In an Instant
by SeattleGirl359
Summary: Daryl/Beth AU No Zombies - Beth was trapped inside of her car after the crash, upside down, windows shattered, and metal pieces everywhere from the impact. Disoriented, she couldn't escape. That is, until a man with an angel winged vest came to save her life. And from there on out, both of their lives were changed by each other.
1. Chapter 1

_**Summary: AU No Zombies - Beth was trapped inside of her car after the crash, upside down, windows shattered, and metal pieces everywhere from the impact. Disoriented, she couldn't escape. That is, until a man with an angel winged vest came to save her life. And from there on out, both of their lives were changed by each other.  
**_

Beth drove down the empty and dark paved road in her car with the soft sound of a piano tone and soft spoken lyrics playing on the radio after abruptly leaving a party early, one that her friends dragged her out to for the Friday night, and one she hadn't wanted to go to from the start. Her old boyfriend, Jimmy, had been there and picked a fight with her, sounding off nasty comments to her because he was drunk past recognition. Rude comments along with pleas for her to take him back that were all jumbled together into broken sentences and slurred words.

She left, got out of that place, angered that he was not taking the break up nicely. He ruined her already not so great night and the lame first party she had ever went to.

She broke up with him months ago because he changed. Turned into someone entirely different than the sweet boy she once knew. He never used to drink alcohol before or go to parties, but then he started to. He was different after that, wasn't the same. She hated the change in him. Beth had ended things a month and a half before they graduated from high school, the promise of a new life at college in Atlanta not far off.

It would not have worked between the anyways. Beth would be in Atlanta at school and Jimmy would be in Miami, Florida at the university he had chosen to go to. Long distance never worked out well, especially when the people were young. Beth had just turned eighteen and Jimmy had been nineteen. She wanted to explore the world, explore her options. And not with him in the picture. Their relationship hadn't felt right anymore, hadn't for a while. So she had taken the plunge and ended it.

Beth decided to stop thinking about her old relationship. It wasn't worth it, not really. That was done and over with, and Beth had moved on. There was not much to get over in the first place. Honestly, it was a high school romance that had lasted a total of six months. And Beth had never formed a strong emotional attachment to Jimmy. Maybe that was why the relationship was easy to get over.

She shook it out of her head and listened to the music.

Beth drove through the small town to get to get to the other side so she could get to the dirt road that would take her home. All she wanted to do was take a hot shower and go to sleep by this point.

She approached the one intersection in the entire town, the bright green light telling her that she could keep on going because there was no one else around at eleven thirty at night in this sleepy town. Everything was quiet and dark, businesses shut down for the night.

And in that second, everything changed.

Apparently that saying that life can change in an instant was correct.

Beth was in the middle of the intersection when she turned her head to the right to see two headlights inches from the other side of the car. Another vehicle slammed into her passenger side door. It jolted her to the side instantly, the impact hard. Beth did not have any time to brace herself before glass from the windows shattered and was thrown at her, attaching to her blonde hair. Her car skidded across the pavement, tires squealing as the smell of rubber burning invaded the air. The car rolled to its side, tumbling over twice before the weight of it rocked back and the top of the car settled on the ground.

In the process, Beth had smacked her head on something, probably the window that was by her head, rendering her incapable to logical thought momentarily, her arms dangling down so her wrists hit what was below her. Her damaged and cracked phone clunked down onto the floor, it having become like a projectile missile during the crash, and luckily it never hit her as the car was thrown.

It took her several seconds to understand what had happened, almost losing consciousness twice.

Beth's vision was blurry. She blinked her eyes and a piece of small glass fell from an eyelash. She considered herself to be lucky that it didn't enter her eye during the impact. She blinked some more until her light blue eyes adjusted the best that they could to the new surroundings, the wetness drying up for her to see a little bit better. Her head pounded, skull feeling like it was going to pierce right through her scalp at any moment. Only then did she realize that she was upside down.

That's right, she remembered the car had flipped on its side a couple of times before it came to a halt with the roof on the ground and the tires going skyward.

For a brief second, everything was still.

Calm.

Motionless.

Beth breathed in the hot and humid first day of August air to make sure that, in fact, she was alive.

And she could not be in a worse position.

She swallowed hard, preparing for the task she was going to need to complete. Beth's hand found its way to her chest, where her seat belt strapped her in tight, locking her in place. She felt the seat belt with her fingers as they absently ran over the thick gray material, and followed it down to where it was secured. She tried to press the button to release her, but it didn't work. She tried again and again. Nothing happened.

Beth lifted her head up to see what was going on, only to find that the middle compartment that was used as an arm rest had been shifted during the crash and the plastic material was now pressed into the buckle where the strap was securing her in place. It was not going to budge.

She felt faint all of a sudden when she realized that.

Beth could not keep her head up to figure a way out of the mess she was in. Her mind clouded over, and Beth felt like she was going to doze off, her head slowly drifting back down. She snapped it back up, forcing her eyes to stay open.

_Don't fall asleep._

She needed to get out of here.

Beth quickly wiggled her toes to make sure that she wasn't paralyzed as the thought entered her mind, and she was not. Only her body felt limp and a bit numb in various places. She messed with the belt again, tears pushing out of her eyes as she blinked. She was frustrated and scared, and not to mention feeling very, very tired at the moment. Through her blurry vision from the tears, she saw a red color stained to her hands.

Blood was on her. Beth's own blood.

Not a lot, but enough.

She then tasted some blood that had inched its way to up her neck and to her mouth from a cut on her chest where glass must have opened up a wound on her skin.

Right then, Beth saw a figure run across the intersection towards her, avoiding pieces of metal that were in the road from when the two cars collided. All she could do was watch as the person got closer and moved around her upside down car, and then got to their knees to bend over, yanking the driver side door open to get to her.

She didn't know if she was actually going to be able to form words, but she knew she had to try. "I'm stuck," she breathed out, sounding quiet.

It was hard to see, but Beth was sure that the person was a man. The pitch of the voice, low and gruff, then told her that she was right. "Let me get you outta here," he said.

The man evaluated the situation for a moment before he reached over her to try and get the seat belt undone. When it didn't work, she wanted to tell him that she had tried that already, but couldn't find the words to say them.

"I'll be right back. Stay right here. Don't move."

_Stay right there?_

Was he serious? Where did he think that she would be able to go to? She was stuck inside her vehicle. Not like she could drive off...

She almost laughed.

Almost.

But that would be the wrong thing to do at a time like this.

Beth twisted her head so she could try and see where the man was going to. She noticed at the last second that the man who came and tried to help her wore a vest with faded white angel wings on the back. From her position, she saw that he ran over to something that was parked in a space on the opposite road. It looked like a motorcycle to her, but she could not be sure due to her foggy brain and watery eyes.

While he was gone, Beth's mind traveled over to the car that crashed into her as she had gone through the intersection on the quiet street. Was the driver okay? Were they injured at all? Were there any passengers?

_What the hell had happened?_

And why was this mysterious man only tending to only her?

_Oh, God._

Was the other driver dead? Was that why the guy was only focused on her instead of the other car that was a good sixty yards away from her car?

Her mind swirled with endless questions and zero answers. She knew nothing at all about the situation. All she knew was that her head was really starting to throb and relentlessly thinking about all the possibilities made it pound against her skull even harder.

The man came back fast and aided as a distraction, Beth's focus now adjusting to only him. He bent back over onto the ground with a large knife that looked like it was probably used for hunting. It scared her for second, and she jerked in the seat while she gasped, still upside down, still locked into her place with no escape, and still had all the blood rushing to her head, making her weak.

"Relax," he said calmly. "I ain't gonna hurt you."

The way he said it reassured her that he was only there to help. She did what he said and let her body relax again, though she did not have much of a choice in the matter. Her body had been yanked out of its normal equilibrium status from the impact, and her body told her not to strain her muscles. "M'kay," she weakly managed to get out.

"I'm gonna cut both the straps off of ya, okay?"

That made sense. "Mmhm."

"Don't move at all. Stay as still as possible," he instructed with an even tone.

His balanced voice made her more calm. He seemed like he knew what he was doing, or at least knew what needed to be done to get her out of the smashed up death trap she was in.

The man grabbed ahold of the strap and ran the knife underneath the part of it that went diagonally across her chest. She found it horribly ironic that the thing that saved her life was now trapping her in. The man sliced the belt material off and then reached over further so he could get to the part that was across her hips. He then adjusted himself so that he had one arm around her back, hand resting on her arm that was furthest away from him to hold her as he cut her loose, and so that her head would not smack onto the roof of the car as she fell out of the seat.

The last bit of the seat belt material was cut and Beth felt her body drift towards the ground before the man quickly took her in both arms and pulled her out of the vehicle with a lot of strength to his muscles.

He uprighted her once she was free so Beth's feet were firmly on the ground, her boots finding her footing. Her body still felt like it might falter and fall down, so it was a good thing that the man who saved her had a grasp on both of the sides of her shoulders to continue to hold her in her place before him.

She noticed that he was taller than her, not by too much, but enough to make her have to look up to him. His shoulders were wide, and his muscular arms stood out to her.

"Hey, are you okay?" the man asked. "Is anythin' broken? Anythin' hurtin' ya?"

She must have been in shock because she didn't really feel any type of pain, just dizziness and the faint feeling looming over her, threatening to take control.

His grip on the side of her arms tightened as her body began to give out without her permission. She felt her legs start to lose the ability to hold her weight up, her knees beginning to bend and cave in. Beth weakly grabbed onto his muscular arms for support, trying to get her eyes to focus. When they finally did, she saw the man looking back into her eyes, his deep set blue ones that were hooded by dark hair searching her own for any sign of distress or pain. Their eyes connected, and for some reason she felt safe with him. She got the feeling that everything was going to be alright.

She would be okay.

This man who she didn't know saved her, rescued her after something horrible happened. He saved her life, she definitively knew that. No one else was around and Beth would have eventually passed out in her car. It would have been hours before someone came across the wreck. And by that point, she may have been dead from blood loss or internal bleeding.

An angel wing vest, how appropriate.

That was the last thing she thought before her world turned black and she lost consciousness in the strong arms of a stranger.

_**A/N: I had a dream about this story a while ago, which is strange because I never dream about bethyl (unfortunately). So I ****wrote it down after it stuck with me and it has been sitting in my documents for a long time. Hopefully it's interesting. Please, please, please let me know if I should continue! I have a plot in mind of where I could take this but I need to know if it would be worth writing.  
**_

_**Honestly, one of the top reasons why I wrote this was because I thought the whole angel wing vest symbolism was just too good! But I'm still nervous about posting this.  
**_


	2. Chapter 2

Bright lights were the first thing that she saw, even through her closed eyelids. The brightness invaded them, causing her to flutter them open. Her hands jerked at her sides, fingers spreading out and feeling the soft material of something below her. Beth's head tilted to the side and into hair that was draped over her shoulder. She brought her hand up to her head and placed her fingers into her hair to feel her scalp. There was not much pain there anymore. It was more of like a dizzy and disoriented feeling as she regained consciousness.

There was some talking in the hallway. Beth could not hear exactly what was being said, but it sounded like a man's voice said something like, "I think she's waking up."

Moments later, Beth saw a woman with dark brown curly hair and a nice smile come into her room with scrubs on that were all pink, letting Beth know that she must be in a hospital. "Hi, sweetheart. I'll going to be your nurse. My name is Karen. Do you know what happened?"

Beth took a minute to gather her thoughts together. "Car accident," she mumbled, slowly recalling the previous events.

"That's right. You were hit by another vehicle. You're in the hospital now," Karen told her in a gentle voice. "You've been unconscious since the scene where the EMTs picked you up from."

"Does my family know?" she questioned.

"We were able to track down their number once we ran your name through our system but the phone lines were dead. A storm came through while you were out and it must have knocked out some of the powerlines. Those lines on the back roads can be tricky when a branch falls on them. But two officers were dispatched to your house to bring your family here. They should be here soon."

Beth took in a breath of the overly clean hospital air, shutting her eyes again because she felt tired.

"Open them back up, honey."

Beth did as her nurse said and flicked her eyes open. Karen took a small flashlight out of her pocket and shown the light into both of Beth's eyes. "Okay, your pupils are still a little bit more dilated than they should be, but that will go down in the next few hours."

She went over to grab a chart that was at the end of Beth's bed. Beth took the opportunity to glance around the room she was in. There were plain white walls with a few paintings that were hung on them that captured the image of varying landscapes. Nothing too interesting, just something to make it not look so boring in the room.

"Are you in any kind of pain?" Karen asked, picking up a pen to write with on the chart.

"My head kind of hurts but it's not exactly painful," she replied.

"Feel like it's throbbing?"

"A little bit."

Karen quickly made a note of that. "Don't worry, that's normal. When they brought you in you had a concussion from the impact. Your doctor will fill you in on the details when he gets up here."

Beth moved herself so that she was uprighted more on her bed. "A concussion?"

"Yes, that's right. But, again, don't worry. We are going to take good care of you. You might feel dizzy, feel some nausea here and there, feel exhausted, concentration can be difficult at times, and you could potentially have some problems with memory. But that will only be temporary. Everyone is different when it comes to a concussion. Some experience more symptoms than others. The good news is that all symptoms will normally go away within three months. Don't concern yourself with it too much. I'll be right here if you have any questions."

Suddenly, the frame of a person filled in a part of the doorway.

Karen turned and motioned at him. "Thank you for letting me know she woke up. Are you her...boyfriend?" she asked the man that stood in the entry way of the door, watching Beth.

"What? No," he quickly replied.

Before Karen could say anything further, a device that was attached to her hip started to beep, and she took it off to read what it said. "Excuse me, I need to get to another patient downstairs. I'll let the doctor know that you are awake now and he will come to talk to you as soon as he is finished up in his office. Hopefully, your family will be here by then."

Karen pushed past the man swiftly and darted down the hallway. Beth stared over at the man, her eyes finally adjusting all the way to the light in the room and her surroundings. It took her a few moments, but she recognized him.

It was the guy with the angel wing vest.

"I remember you," she told him, her voice quiet, but sounding louder inside her head.

The man walked into the room stealthily and with caution, as if he was afraid to come too close to her. She noted that he was wearing the same clothes that he had been wearing when he got her out of her car, signifying that it was still the same...day? She looked over at the one window that was in the room, the shades letting in the littlest amount of yellow light, telling her that the sun was just rising above the horizon.

She turned her attention back to the guy. "What's your name?" she asked, curious.

He looked over at her, their eyes connecting. Beth felt that same sense of security when he did that, just like she had felt it before she fell unconscious in his arms. "Daryl."

His voice was the same as before, too. It was low and husky, and for some reason that comforted her. She smiled, and then nodded. Daryl was a nice name. It seemed to fit him well.

"I'm Beth."

"Yeah, I know. Cops got your driver's license out when they arrived and I heard them say your name in the ambulance," he explained.

"You came with me in the ambulance? All the way to the hospital?"

Daryl looked like a deer in headlights. "Uh, yeah, sorry 'bout that. I just...I couldn't let them take ya and not know what happened. Felt like I needed to make sure you'd be alright after I told the cops what I knew. I wanted to_**—**_wanted to make sure that you made it okay and nothin' serious was wrong."

She felt a flutter in her stomach as he spoke, but ignored it, thinking maybe it was that nausea that Karen had talked about.

Beth examined an IV and several electrodes that were on her and some other strange things that were attached to her and hooked up to machines by the side of the bed. "How long was I out for?"

"Well, it was twenty minutes until the EMT got to the crash and then another thirty to get to the hospital. I guess in total it was about six hours," he told her.

Time seemed like such a weird thing at the moment, like it was playing a trick on her somehow. She honestly felt like a combination of two things right then, like she had just been pulled out of her car by Daryl, and also like she had slept for an eternity.

"And you stayed here until I woke up?"

She was actually impressed that this man decided to stay with her the whole time. He had already done an amazing service by saving her, and now he told her that he stayed by her side this entire time while she had been unconscious in the hospital. And that only made her wonder why he had done that, why he had felt the need to not leave.

"I, uh, needed to make sure you actually would wake up. Don't really like doctors. Never trusted what they said. So, I hung out for a bit and waited it out."

"Thank you," she gratefully expressed. "For waiting and for gettin' me out of my car in the first place."

"Don't need to thank me."

"I do."

Daryl shifted his stance, looking down at his boots and then his dark eyes glanced around the room. He looked like he was unsure of what to say, how to reply to Beth saying that a thank you was in order. Seriously, it was the least that she could do right now.

Beth gathered up the courage to ask a previous question that had ran through her head all the way back when she was stuck in her car. "Why did you only help me? I mean the other driver—"

"He was drunk, passed out, I guess. Smelled the alcohol on him before I even got within ten yards of him. Figured he didn't deserve any help." Daryl shifted uncomfortably again, hands shoved into his pockets, shoulders caving in. "And then I saw you in your car, so I came over to you instead."

"What you did," Beth started, unsure of where to even start. "It was incredibly brave of you. You saved me—"

"Don't," he cut her off. "Wasn't brave or nothin' like that. Just wasn't about to let you stay stuck upside down in that car after some drunk jackass rammed his car into you."

She wanted to tell him that he was wrong, that what he had done was heroic and brave at the same time. But she got the feeling that he didn't want any praise for his lifesaving actions, so she dropped the subject. For now, at least. Her head still hurt a bit so she was not going to press any further and argue with Daryl.

It gave her goosebumps to think about what had happened hours ago when he had pulled her from the wreck.

"So, I'm, uh, gonna go now," Daryl awkwardly, yet casually, announced. "Seein' that you're awake now and your family will be here soon. Ain't no reason for me to be here."

He turned around and headed for the door after he had paused in his place for a moment, and that movement made her whole body fill with dread.

"Wait!" she stopped him, surprised by her own strength of her voice. This could not be the last time that she saw him. Fear ran through her at the thought of not seeing him again, having him walk out the door to never be seen again. She wanted to know more about this mysterious man. Wanted to know, _had_ to know. "Can I have your number?"

Daryl turned back around to look her in the eyes again, confused by her request. He blinked a few times in what looked to be disbelief before he asked, "Why?"

"Because you saved my life," she explained. "I'd like to—"

"Don't feel like you gotta repay me or anythin' like that," he interrupted for a second time, trying to get his point across.

"First of all, I don't know how many times I'm gonna say this, but you did _save my life_. I know that. For the sake of the argument, that's not exactly somethin' that's easily repaid. If it even can be. But, I really just want to get coffee or something like that. You know, when I get out of the hospital. I'd like to get to know you better." When Daryl looked like he was having a hard time deciding on what to do, she sweetly added, "Please."

"Alright, fine," he caved in a grumble.

Daryl crossed the room and took a sheet of paper off of a notepad that was by her chart at the edge of the bed. He quickly scribbled down his number, folded up the paper, and walked over to the side of her hospital bed so he could hand it over to her. Beth took it with a smile, enclosing it in her palm and placing it safely by her side, not letting go of it.

She got a better look at him now that he was this close to her. Daryl was tall, with nice shoulders. His dark hair was longer, but it definitely looked good that way. He had blue eyes that were similar to hers, only a shade darker. He had large arm muscles that were shown off by the cut off sleeves of his shirt, tanned skin that was slightly dirty. There was a small bit of blood on his plaid shirt, blood that she realized was her own from when he got her out of being trapped in her car, but he did not seem bothered by the ruined shirt.

She thought he looked very handsome, in this rugged and different kind of way.

Beth could also tell that he seemed to be a bit uncomfortable where he stood, like he was somehow unsure of himself, awkward. But she liked that, too.

Daryl was interesting, she could tell that much so far.

"I'll call you," she told him, offering up the best smile she could manage.

Daryl put his hands back into his pockets and gave her nod. "Okay."

He left after that, and Beth watched him go as he stepped left out of the doorway and walked down the hallway. The way she faced had a wall with four windows that had blinds open that looked out onto the nurses station and the hallway. It allowed her to catch how Daryl looked through the windows and back at her as he left, dropping his gaze when he noticed that she was also watching him.

Daryl.

Beth wanted to see him again, and she hoped that she would be able to get out of this hospital soon.

Before she knew it, she heard Maggie's voice asking where Beth was at the nurses station, and being directed to the room opposite of where the nurses were filling out their paperwork.

_**A/N: Let me take a moment and tell you all how blown away I am by the response I got to this story. I can not thank you enough for all of the wonderful encouragement to continue! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! More will be on the way soon.  
**_

_**And I also wanted to address a question I got from the first chapter regarding if Daryl's point of view as going to be incorporated into the story, and I plan to get into his head after the first initial chapters are done because I like them being solely from Beth's perspective. Then, as a side note, I am also incorporating other Walking Dead characters into the story. As you may have noticed, Karen was Beth's nurse in this one. So, their true occupations will probably not match up and other various details will be altered for the sake of the plot. It gives me way more liberty to do what I want with the story.**_

_**Looking forward to hearing any feedback! :)**_


	3. Chapter 3

Her sister came around the corner first. "Beth!"

"Hi, Maggie," she said, elated to see the familiar face of her sister.

Maggie rushed over to her, arms open to bend over and hug her, careful not to squeeze too tight on her shoulders. "We were all so worried. Dad and Annette were already asleep but I stayed up to wait for you to get home because the storm rolled in so fast and I wanted make sure you got in okay. And when you didn't, I freaked out and woke up the whole house in a panic."

"Then the police showed up and told you what happened? Where I was?"

Maggie nodded. "Yes, but we had to detour a lot because there were some down trees in the road. That's why we didn't get here right away. I was a complete mess on the way but the officer, I think his name was Grimes, calmed me down. I tried callin' your cell but it said that it was unavailable."

"It got damaged in the crash," Beth explained, her sister flinching at the word _crash_.

Her father and mother then walked into the room. Her mother put her hand over her heart when she saw Beth and also rushed to her side like Maggie had done. "Oh, Beth. I prayed you would be okay," she told her, tears in her eyes.

"Mom, I'm alright," she mumbled as her mother smothered her with a tight hug.

Her father then came beside her and kissed her on top of the head. "We both were prayin', Bethy."

Her family members stayed with her for a while as she revealed all of the details of the accident that she was aware of to them. Karen came in and had a short discussion with her parents about the symptoms Beth could experience as well before she left to check on another one of her patients in the next room.

"Mr. and Mrs. Greene?" a voice then asked from the doorway. A man in a white coat and blue scrubs on popped his head in. "Could talk to you for a moment? I'm Beth's doctor."

"Of course," they agreed, leaving Maggie with Beth.

Once they were out of the room, Maggie and Beth resumed their earlier conversation. "The police didn't have a lot of info to tell us on the way. What happened?"

Beth shrugged her shoulders, shaking her head as she sat up more in her bed. "It all happened so fast. A drunk driver hit me and my car flipped. I was upside down and...a guy came and saved me." She flashed back to how Daryl got her out of her car, how he held her as her legs gave out and her world went dark. "I was trapped inside, and I swear it was like he came out of nowhere. Cut me loose. Saved my life."

"A guy?"

"Daryl," she corrected. "His name is Daryl. He just left, actually."

Maggie tilted her head to the side, eyebrows rising up on her forehead. "He was here?"

For some reason, Beth's heart fluttered when she thought about her previous conversation with Daryl and how he did not leave until she had opened her eyes. "Stayed until I woke up," she acknowledged with a smile creeping onto her face, hard for her to keep her emotion contained. "I was unconscious for a while. I mean, I woke up not too long ago. So, I'm still a little bit groggy."

Maggie smiled, leaning in to kiss the top of Beth's head, then hugged her again. "Well, I'm happy that you are okay," she stated, her eyes getting a little bit watery. "And I wish this Daryl guy was still here so I could thank him."

Beth smiled. "Believe me, I don't think he would want that."

"Oh?"

"I tried to thank him for, you know, saving my life and all but he shut me down. It was strange. Most people would want the recognition for saving a life and doin' a good deed, but Daryl? No, he acted like it was no big deal and what he did was not a big thing. He_**—**_"

The rest of her family walked back into the room, along with her doctor, stopping Beth from explaining any further, her eyes on the three people who entered. Maggie sat down on the bed next to her, and then grabbed her hand to enclose it in both of hers.

Her doctor walked halfway between her and her parents to talk to everyone collectively. "I was just informing your parents about the situation concerning the other driver who collided with your car. We did treat him, and he is now being transported to the jail for booking, seeing that he was well over the legal drinking limit. I'm surprised he could even walk with the blood alcohol content he had. What exactly he will be booked for other than a DUI, I am not entirely sure. But, I can give you the number of the officers who escorted him off the premises. Officer Rick Grimes stopped by here before they picked up the driver to check on you and your medical condition before he left."

Beth felt uneasy with being told about the other driver going to jail. He obviously deserved it since he broke the law and almost killed her, but she felt strangely uncomfortable with that knowledge. One bad decision was going to be on a permanent record for him. Not to mention he would also be prosecuted for the DUI, probably ending up with a sentence to live out in a cell somewhere in the state of Georgia.

"Good," her sister interrupted Beth's thoughts. She grabbed her hand tighter. "He deserves to be locked up. He could have killed Beth!"

"Calm down, Maggie," their father peacefully advised.

"Sorry. I'm just angry when I think about what could have happened."

Beth could tell by her sister's agitated tone of voice that this was all affecting her more than Beth realized, more than she initially thought her accident would. It went to show how close they were, and also how protective Maggie was when it came to Beth.

Beth squeezed Maggie's hand back. "I'm right here," she reminded her.

"Well," her doctor started off. "On another note, now that you are all here, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that Beth did not suffer from any broken bones or fractures from the impact of the crash, which is something of a miracle due to how the car rolled multiple times. However, the bad news is that because of the concussion she suffered from as a result of hitting her head on the driver's side window, there will most likely be frequent headaches and other symptoms for a while as the brain heals from the injury. Now, I see from your chart that you are eighteen, so are you planning on going away to college at the end of the month?"

"Yes," Beth confirmed. "That was the plan. I'm going to be movin' to Atlanta."

"I see. It's good that Atlanta is not too far from here. You'll need to come back here for checkups. And I see that you wish to continue to go for the fall semester, and that is fine by me, but I would highly recommend getting an apartment off campus for a number of reasons," he explained to them all. "A university dormitory is not the best place for someone recovering from an injury like this, and this healing process will take some time. Which is why I would advise not living on campus."

"What would be the difference, exactly?" a curious Maggie asked.

"The noise level in a dorm would be very loud, very distracting, and interfere with any healing that the brain would be trying to do. Essentially, it could take longer to heal if proper measures aren't enforced, which is what we don't want. Bright lights should be avoided, so don't spend too much time on the computer, or anything that would make your eyes strain for too long. It would be ideal to not be anywhere that you would be exposed to elevated noise levels for a prolonged amount of time because of the strain it could put on the brain, and it could induce a headache. Again, not something we want. You will need at least eight hours of sleep per night, and a well-balanced, _healthy_ diet to aid your body to help with the healing. I would avoid caffeine as much as possible, and absolutely no alcohol. And as you might understand, that would not be the easiest thing to follow for someone living in a university dorm room."

"We will take care of that," her father announced right after her doctor finished with his long list of criteria that she should follow. Her head was practically spinning after listening to all of that. "Anythin' for her to get better. We will do as you ask."

"Boo," her sister cooed quietly, pouting at Beth. "No more late night ice cream binges with me."

"Now, I'm going to keep her here for another night just as a precaution so we can monitor her even though she is stable now," he doctor told them. "You can pick her up in the morning as soon as we start discharging patients at eight o'clock."

"Alright, we will be sure to do that," her daddy replied, taking ahold of her mom's hand.

"Now, I would like to go over some insurance papers with you, if you don't mind."

"Of course," her mother said, and the two of them were led out of the room by the doctor and into an office somewhere down the hallway.

Beth took a large breath in. This was all very overwhelming to her. Now, all of a sudden, the idea of college seemed different since she had been advised not to live on campus for her freshman year of school and to get an apartment instead. An apartment. On her own. In Atlanta. No roommate or anything. And her father actually agreed to that, to her living on her own. Not that she would complain, it sounded exciting. A little bit scary, but the terms her doctor gave seemed easy enough to follow.

(She hoped)

Avoid strenuous eye-strain, not too much noise, little amounts of caffeine, eat well, get enough sleep.

She could manage that.

The alcohol part would not be an issue because Beth had never drank a day in her life. Her daddy's stories about his days with alcohol scared her enough to stay away from it. So that was one less thing that she needed to worry about.

Beth rubbed her eyes and then noticed that her sister took out her phone. "I'm gonna call Shawn and let him know you're okay. He picked the worst time to go on a trip with his buddies before school starts back up. He's probably kickin' himself right about now for not bein' here."

"Okay."

Maggie left the room and went out into the hallway. Beth's thoughts easily traveled back to Daryl. She wondered what he was doing right about now. Did he have to go into work? After the night he had, and staying with her at the hospital, she assumed with getting no sleep, she hoped that he called out sick or something. If not, he would be exhausted.

She had another memory trigger in her mind about when he had pulled her out of the car, right before she blacked out and the world faded away. That feeling of all-encompassing safety and security she had gotten as he held her in the street made her think deeply about it. Those eyes of his had been so calming when she had looked into them.

Where had it come from?

Why had she felt that way with him?

It didn't matter. All Beth knew was that she was going to try and talk her sister into giving up her phone so she could call Daryl. There was this intense feeling inside of her that had to hear his voice again. Hopefully, he would want to talk to her, too, because she most certainly, without a doubt, wanted to speak with him.

Suddenly, a thought struck her. Beth wondered if the number he had given her was his actual number. The very thought of rejection washed over her, and Beth became a bit concerned. Anxious. Eager. Now she wanted to know if this was a working number, and not some random set of numbers that has been scribbled down so avoid Beth pushing for Daryl to hand over a way to reach him.

Beth huffed, looking around the room for a phone. There was one in the corner on top of a table with a chair next to it. Beth plucked the wires off of her, along with the one that was hooked up to her finger to monitor her heart rate. Luckily for her, Karen had already took out the IV.

She carefully swung her legs over the bed and hopped down onto the floor, retracting for a moment because the tile was chilly against her bare feet.

Beth made sure that everyone was occupied outside of her room, not knowing why because it was not like she was doing something illegal. For heaven's sake, she was only calling the man who saved her. Beth adjusted her hospital gown and sat down into the wooden chair with a green cushion, picking up the phone, and flattening out the piece of paper that had been in her hand the whole time.

(That was right, she never let go of it)

It might be a little crazy, but she had to know if Daryl would pick up.

(Maybe she hit her head harder than she thought)

Oh well. She was going to do this. Nothing could stop her.

Beth plugged in the set of numbers on the paper and held the phone up to her ear. The dial tone came on and Beth thought that was a good sign—at least it was a working number. Beth's heart began to race, for yet again, and unknown reason. She cleared her throat and bit down on her bottom lip. She pulled her legs up onto the chair and waited for what felt like forever.

"Hello?" a low and gruff voice said, perking Beth up. She nearly dropped the phone out of her hand. She knew that voice.

"Daryl?" She really didn't have to ask if it was him, she knew that it had to be, but she thought it was necessary to get complete, one hundred percent confirmation that her ears were not playing any tricks on her. After all, she was in the hospital with a concussion.

There was a moment of silence on the other end before he replied, "Yeah, that's me. Who is this?"

"It's Beth. The one from the crash and the hospital," she explained, her heart rate steadily increasing.

There was the sound of what seemed like a short laugh from the other end. "Didn't think you would actually be callin'. You gettin' outta the hospital that soon?"

"Unfortunately, no. I, um, actually wanted to make sure that you gave me your actual number. I don't leave until the morning, but I wanted to call. Something told me I had to," she admitted to him.

"My actual number?" Daryl laughed out. "What would you have done if I gave you a fake one?"

He sounded amused by her insanity of him potentially giving her a random number.

Beth twisted the chord of the phone around her fingers, biting down on her bottom lip again, smiling wide. "Well, I would have had to hack into the hospital's video cameras and track you down. See what your license plate number was when you get the parking lot and then come and find you," she joked. "Have to hire a private detective or somethin'."

Daryl was entertained by her unusual and bizarre response that she came up with quickly. "Pfft. I'm flattered," he muttered into the phone, sounding slightly satisfied despite his normal husky tone.

There was a moment of awkward silence after that. There were a thousand more things that Beth wanted to say, but could not find the words to say them. So instead she decided to go with, "Okay. Well, I have to get back in bed before my nurse or my sister catches me on the phone. But I'll call you again...would that be okay?"

She anxiously waited, and he finally answered, "Yeah. That's fine."

Beth let out a breath that she had been holding in.

"Okay, good," she replied, voice light and airy. "I'll talk to you soon, then."

"Yeah, okay. Bye." He abruptly ended the call, and then the line went dead.

Beth got back to her feet and swiftly shuffled back into her bed, hooking all the wires back on in what she thought was the correct places, and then straightened out her blue and white hospital gown. A sensation of walking on clouds came over her, and she found that to be particularly curious. Hearing Daryl's voice had made her feel giddy on the inside, elevated her heart rate significantly. She had to remind herself that he was a stranger to her.

But was he really?

It did not seem right to call Daryl a _stranger_.

Do people who help save your life automatically get bumped to something else even if they were someone unknown before the life-saving act occurred? It seemed like they should be, considering.

The idea got lost inside her head when Maggie came back in at that point, tucking her phone into her back pocket, completely unaware of Beth's phone call to Daryl. She would tell her later about it, but not now.

_**A/N: I also posted a bethyl smut oneshot today called During the Night. So please go read it! I am quite proud of how it turned out. **_

_**Also, the first part of this chapter was the more boring stuff where I set up for future chapters. I promise the next one will be way more interesting! **_


	4. Chapter 4

Beth was home.

She let out a sigh of relief as they all filed into her childhood home, dropping grocery bags onto the floor and taking off shoes. The familiar smell of the house made her feel a thousand times better than before. The stay at the hospital was comfy enough, but still, it was a hospital. Beth had tossed and turned all night, hearing every little sound as she attempted to fall asleep. The first night and she was already not following the terms that her doctor gave her. She most definitely did not get eight solid hours of sleep, and she would have to make up for that tonight in her own bed and in her own room.

"I can't believe that daddy is gonna let you have your own apartment off campus," Maggie whispered as they headed up the stairs to her room. "He didn't even hesitate for a second when your doctor told him that would be the best place for you to be."

"I know," she agreed, remaining in disbelief. "I think mom might have talked him into it further, though. She knows how badly I want to go away to college and it's too far to commute from home."

They both entered her room and Maggie shut the door behind her, the two of them sitting down on the bed. "How's your head feelin'?"

"It's okay, I guess. I'm holding up. There was a slight headache this mornin' and it was hard to focus, but other than that, it was not too bad."

"So, when are you gonna call Daryl?" her sister immediately jumped to. Beth knew that asking about her head was not the real reason her sister had followed her into her room where they could have more privacy.

"As soon as you leave," she teased. "I can't now. He's gotta be at work. I don't want to disturb him."

"You know, Daddy and Annette are really curious about him. Maybe you should invite him over for dinner. I'm sure they'd like to thank him even though he doesn't want any of that kind of stuff."

"Dinner? No way. He would never come, even if I wanted him to."

And Beth really would like him to. In fact, she would love it. Unfortunately, she got the idea that Daryl would not be comfortable with that. Not at all.

"Oh, well," Maggie sighed. "Hey, do you want me to drive you to that mechanic shop? I called and let the company who towed your car to drop it off there when I give them another call, and that you would meet them there to confirm that you're the owner. But I didn't really think about maybe you not wantin' to see the car and the damage. Sorry."

Her heart hurt thinking about the car that her parents had chipped in for as a high school graduation present. Beth had paid for most of the cost for her used silver 2006 Hyundai Verna that she had gotten for a good price through a friend at school. However, the good thing was that her insurance would cover the cost of the repairs.

Beth grabbed Maggie's hand. "It's fine, really. I don't have a problem goin'. I wanna hear what they have to say about how long it will take to get fixed. And I'd like to know who the mechanic is that will be fixin' my car. You can drop me off on the way to see your pizza delivery boy."

"Glenn!" she corrected. "And he's great, by the way."

"I know. I've never seen you so...so happy before."

Maggie shrugged, smiling. "He's so nice and funny. And he practically worships the ground I walk on, which is so weird, but also kinda sweet. It's refreshing, really. After all the guys I've dated in the past..."

"Don't remind me."

"Hey!" Maggie playfully swatted at Beth's arm.

"That's not fair. Don't hurt me, I'm injured," she played along. "When do you want to go?"

"The sooner we go the more time I have with Glenn," Maggie hinted, eyes drifting around the room until Beth answered.

"Okay, okay. We can go now. But under one condition. Only if you promise that I won't be force fed beets with plain lettuce in this house as a way of maintaining a _healthy diet. _Because you know that daddy and my mom are gonna be all over that. They are probably down there right now plannin' out my meals as we speak."

Maggie laughed, getting up from the bed. "I accept those terms. No beets! Ever."

"And you'll sneak me chocolate if I am in desperate need of it?"

Maggie shrugged one shoulder and pushed her lips together. "Maybe."

"Maybe?" Beth squealed, not happy with that response.

"I'm kidding. I'll bring a whole candy store in here at two in the mornin' and we'll have a party. How's that? Because, you know, you _are _actually gonna be eating a lot of lettuce very soon." Maggie made a sad face that made Beth giggle. "And that's no fun."

—

Maggie and Beth drove twenty minutes from their house until they pulled up at Martinez & Sons autobody shop that was off of a dirt road. From the looks of it, she was the first one there since no tow truck was in sight. Luckily, Beth was a fairly patient person and would not mind waiting for her car to arrive.

Beth hopped out of Maggie's car. "I'll call you when I'm done here. Have a good time with Glenn. Tell him I said hello even though he doesn't know who I am yet."

"You'll meet him soon!" Maggie gleefully hinted. "I promise."

"Fine," Beth sighed. "See you soon."

She waved goodbye and noted that she could walk down along the dirt road to a few little shops that they had passed and a small cafe that she could go to in order to give her sister more time with Glenn.

Beth thought about waiting outside for the tow truck to arrive, but the heat and extreme humidity of the summer was too much for her to bear. She walked up through the dirt parking lot and went past a number of cars that were in need of either being serviced or waiting for the owner to pick it up. She grabbed ahold of the door handle to the front part of the shop, swinging it open, and stepped inside. It was cooler in there, and Beth sighed in relief.

No one was at the messy front desk that was filled with paperwork which was scattered all over, so Beth turned around the corner to walk toward where she heard some distant clanging noises and a pair of voices. She waited a few minutes but when it was clear that no one was going to come out and acknowledge her presence at the place, she crossed through another door's entryway, not thinking that she would be trespassing or anything like that.

When she came around the corner, she anxiously stepped into the garage part of the place where they serviced all the cars, it smelling like oil and car parts in there. A man who was very tall and looked to be of Hispanic descent was writing something down as he examined a truck that was right by him.

Beth waited for him to look up, but he never realized that there was another person in the room. Beth looked around, trying to figure out what to do because she did not want to disturb the man, but also needed to explain why she was in the middle of the floor looking around awkwardly.

When a minute went by and he had yet to notice Beth as she stood there, she cleared her throat, him looking up and over at her. "Hi," she greeted, motioning to the door she came out of. "No one was in the front so I came back here. My sister called not that long ago. My car is supposed to be dropped off here."

"Right," he said, not bothered by the intrusion, and set the clipboard he had in his hands on the hood of the truck in front of him. "I remember that. Babe on the phone sounded kind of upset about it."

Beth shrugged, remembering how tense Maggie would get about what had happened. "The whole car situation is not exactly her favorite thing to talk about. Makes her angry, really."

"Yeah, I didn't any details about it," the man explained. "What all happened? The only thing I know is that there's a bunch of damage to the right side."

"Well..." Beth looked for a name tag but could not find one so she motioned for him to give up what his name was.

"Martinez," he told her. "It's actually Caesar. But no one but my mom calls me that."

"Alright, Martinez it is. But, uh, I was actually in a car accident. I'm not even sure how bad the damage is since I never got a chance to see it. The car kind of flipped a few times, but you can do whatever needs to be done. Insurance will cover almost everythin'."

"Cool," Martinez said, acquiring a quizzical look from Beth. "I mean the working on the car part and insurance covering it. Not the you getting in an accident part," he quickly added, trying to backtrack and explain what he really meant. "It's not like I enjoy hearing people have been injured. I'm not a psychopath or anything like that."

"Good to know," Beth laughed.

The door to the side of Martinez then swung open before the conversation furthered. "When were you gonna tell me got another wrecked car comin' in here?"

She had heard that voice before.

Beth froze, her back straightening up when her ears had alerted her of the familiar voice, and then a person came around the corner, revealing that it was Daryl. He looked the same as before, possibly more handsome, if that were even possible. Beth spotted that there was a mixture of grease and oil on his hands, along with it stained onto his blue mechanic shirt.

He looked straight at Martinez before he noticed that she stood there, doing a double take when he recognized her. His face went from what looked to be annoyed when he had come in, to being shocked when his eyes settled on her, his expression then going blank.

"Hi," she kindly said in almost a whisper after a few beats passed, surprised that he worked here and that she just so happened to show up at this place after Glenn suggested it to Maggie.

If fate were ever knocking, this would be that time.

Daryl blinked a few times. "Uh, hi."

There was a moment of silence after that, which consisted to the two of them looking at each other in awe and also complete surprise. Martinez, who was now observing Beth and Daryl, exchanged glances between the two of them, trying to figure out what was going on.

She believed that she could have heard a pin drop. It was that quiet.

"You know each other, I'm assuming," Martinez hinted, to tell them he wanted to be in the loop.

Beth ripped her eyes away from Daryl, shaking off the disbelief. "Yes!" She silently noted how she sounded more enthusiastic than she needed to be. "Daryl is the one who saved me from the accident the other night. That's why my car is damaged."

Martinez's jaw dropped, turning his attention to Daryl "Wait. _What_?"

Oh.

That was when Beth realized that Daryl had not told Martinez about the whole car accident debacle and how he had managed to save her life that night. She had assumed that he would have, considering they worked together and that Martinez was probably someone who Daryl considered to be a friend. She guessed that he really did mean it when he said that it had been no big deal on his part. And now she felt bad for exposing the truth, one that Daryl had not mentioned to Martinez.

She looked over at Daryl, who then averted his eyes to the ground. Beth figured she better explain, seeing that Daryl seemed reluctant to do so and Martinez seemed like the kind of guy to not let something go. "Uh, yeah. I was trapped in the car and Daryl came to cut me loose."

"Why is this the first time I am hearing about this?" Martinez asked, an amused grin on his face as he talked, turning towards Daryl, and waiting for a response from him.

Daryl rolled his eyes. "Didn't say because it ain't nothin' to talk about. Ain't no big deal or nothin'."

"Actually, I probably would have died," Beth interjected before she could think, feeling the need to give up some of the knowledge her doctor and nurse had shared with her. "My doctor even told me that he was ninety percent certain that I would have died there if Daryl hadn't gotten me out because of the head injury and the combination of being upside down," she explained to the both of them, a chill running down her spine because of the thought.

She could have died.

_Died._

But, no, she didn't. A man in an angel winged vest came and prolonged her life a little further.

Beth exchanged another glance with Daryl, as if to say thank you to him again.

Martinez then interrupted the eye contact and threw a dirty rag over at Daryl, who caught it in midair. "Wow, look at you over there, Superman. Saving damsel's in distress from near death experiences. Nice!"

The bell on top of the door in the front office rang to alert that someone had entered.

"Shut up," Daryl muttered. "Go help the other customer. Probably the tow guy wantin' to know where everyone is so he can get the hell outta here."

"Alright, alright, I'm going. No _fooling_ around back here while I'm gone," Martinez smugly told Daryl as he passed by him, suggestively winking on his way out, landing a strong hand onto Daryl's shoulder before he went through the doorway.

Daryl muttered something else but Beth didn't catch what it was. He looked over at her awkwardly, a faint blush on his cheeks that she found to be adorable. "Sorry 'bout that. Martinez is a jackass sometimes. Likes to say inappropriate stuff to make people uncomfortable."

Beth let out a small laugh. "That's okay. It doesn't bother me all that much."

There was another pause between them, neither of them knowing what to say.

"So, um," Beth started, hoping that her brain would jumpstart again. "This is where you work?"

"Yeah."

Beth nodded her head, looking around the place more. "I think it's obvious by now that my car is the wrecked one that's comin' in...the one from the accident." She paused, looking back over at Daryl. "Is that okay with you?"

He quickly ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah. I guess. Why wouldn't it be?"

"I wasn't sure if maybe it would be too.._personal?_"

She knew the wording was not exactly right, but it was the only way she could describe it to him. Working on the car that had been a death trap to Beth did not exactly seem like a walk in the park. In fact, it seemed rather coincidental that she ended up here and that Daryl would be working on the car that he got her out of.

What were the chances of that?

"So, I would really like to talk to you. When do you get off work?" she questioned before she lost the nerve to do so.

"Not for a while—"

"But he can take off now," Martinez jumped in, not missing a beat as he walked back into the room, overhearing Beth's initial question. "I can fill out the paperwork for this and we'll start on her car in the morning after I finish up on that Camaro out there. It's not busy now. Get the hell out of here, Daryl. You don't want to keep a lady waiting."

Martinez threw Beth a mischievous smile, which she then rolled her eyes to, them finding their way back to Daryl, who looked unsure of what to do in that moment. She was actually very grateful that Martinez had let Daryl off the hook and he had the option to come with her instead.

Beth watched as Daryl looked undecided for a minute. But then he shrugged, sighing, and threw the rag he had in his hands onto the hood of a car that was next to him, one that was in for repairs for what seemed like an indentation of a pole in the front corner.

"Alright, then." Daryl motioned for Beth to come with him, and head towards the door. "Let's go."

_**A/N: Before I go, I need to express how lovely it is to hear from everyone with your comments on the story! Thanks for reviewing, following, and adding to your favorites. And also thank you to my anonymous reviewers! **_


	5. Chapter 5

Daryl was not sure what he was doing. One foot was going in front of the other as he moved, but he was certain that it was not by his own will. His motor skills were being controlled by something else entirely. His brain had stopped working somehow, ever since he saw the blonde haired girl with big blue eyes standing in the middle of the shop he worked at, talking with Martinez.

He had frozen up when he saw her, he knew that. He must have looked like a damn idiot too, just standing there staring at Beth trying to figure out how she had ended up there. But he couldn't help it. He stared at her like he had seen an alien. Never in a million years would have ever thought that she would have showed up at the shop by some weird coincidence.

A strange twist of fate, chance, whatever the hell it was.

He didn't get it. Daryl's mind didn't make the connection that he should say something, anything. He only stared. It were as if he had been shell shocked.

Because, in fact, he had been shocked to see her there, and his body ceased to move a muscle after he had rambled on to Martinez about a wrecked car coming in. Beth seemed better now, different than before. She had color in her cheeks now, smile brighter than what he had previously seen. The last time he saw her she had looked so small in that hospital bed, so fragile when all those wires were attached to her. He remembered how he had to look away when a nurse had put that IV in her arm. He had thought that it might break her.

Daryl had almost left the hospital a number of times. He had tried to talk himself into leaving, telling himself there was no reason to stick around like a lost puppy waiting for its master.

He didn't leave.

Couldn't.

He _had _to know that she would be okay, had to see with his own eyes that she would wake up like the nurse said she would. There was a force that kept his feet planted in that hospital and near Beth at all times.

And, no, he hadn't slept at the hospital. He had wandered the halls around Beth's room until he finally settled on staying in there, acquiring questioning looks from the nurses who were around. He looked out of place, but at that moment he didn't care.

And after she woke up he had driven the forty five minutes to work and didn't explain to anyone what had happened that night or why there was blood on his shirt. Martinez had assumed he had gotten into a fight with someone, and Daryl never denied that accusation. It was easier for Martinez to believe that than to reveal where Daryl had been the past numerous hours.

Guess what else?

He still had that shirt. That fucking shirt.

Daryl didn't even bother to wash the blood out, just unbuttoned it, looked at it for a minute, and then tossed it onto the floor in his room when he had been done work. Why did he do that? Who the hell knew why he felt like he had to keep the shirt intact and untouched, some new oil spots on it from working. But the smallest fraction of him knew that the reason behind it was he thought he might not ever see Beth again, and even though it was creepy to keep something like a bloody shirt balled up in the corner, he did it anyways.

Daryl remembered the first time that he saw Beth in that upside down car that was now being dropped off for him to fix. His adrenaline had been rushing through his system as he had worked to get her out of there. All he thought about was making sure that she was okay and that nothing was badly injured. Because it had been one hell of a crash. He hadn't seen it, just heard the noise, and he knew something bad had gone down.

The smell of the alcohol on the other driver had turned him off immediately. It was the same hard liquor scent that his old man used to have on him, fill the whole damn house with when Daryl was younger. Another dumbass who believed he could drink and drive. Even Daryl wasn't stupid enough to do something as reckless as that. And he would have loved to beat the shit out of that driver who hit Beth, and he might have if the guy hadn't already been passed out behind the wheel, slumped over.

That guy was lucky Daryl never found out where in that hospital he was being treated in.

Damn fucking lucky that bastard was.

Daryl would have made sure that the drunk stayed in that hospital for a month for what he had done.

Perhaps he should not have been so worked up about it. Hell knew that he had never felt protective of someone before, but he could not shake that feeling with Beth. Something inside of Daryl told him to keep her safe.

He had never expected her to call, thought that she was trying to be nice at the hospital and make him believe that she would contact him. And then he tried to tell himself that he did not turn his phone on vibrate because he was anticipating her to dial his number. It was a precaution in case someone needed more information from him, like that cop Rick who showed up at the scene first and took Daryl's statement. No, he didn't turn his phone on because he wanted to hear Beth's voice again. That was not the case.

It couldn't be.

(It actually was)

And yet despite what he had originally believed, Beth had called him from the hospital that same day. And here Beth was, right in front of him, telling him that she wanted to talk to him.

Talk with him?

He knew he was not all that interesting, not even in the slightest. And the part that he didn't understand was how she smiled so sweetly over at him, as if he weren't just some dumb redneck.

His first thought was that maybe she hit her head too hard and knocked her good judgment out of line. Because who the fuck in their right mind would want to talk with him? Converse with dirty, rough, annoying, no good, guarded, nothing important to say Daryl Dixon? He was not the kind of guy sweet young women flocked to, or even looked at.

And believe him, he preferred it that way.

He hated attention, from anyone. Always had. It made him feel uncomfortable, awkward, and uneasy. His muscles would tense up and Daryl's body would go rigid.

However, Beth did seem nice. Almost too nice. And he kept waiting for her to say something rude or mean to him like all the others usually did. Tell him that he was a redneck asshole and she didn't want to be within a mile of him at any point of her existence.

She didn't do that.

And that was a hell of a fucking surprise. Daryl was not used to that.

Instead, she asked how his day was once they were walking together to exit the shop he worked at, which he replied with a one worded answer. Beth seemed so genuine that he was not positive about how he should act around her. What the fuck was he even supposed to say?

Maybe she didn't understand that being seen with him would surely bring negative attention to her, and maybe she was too young to comprehend that all the way. Because if he noticed anything, it was that Beth was young. He didn't know what her age was exactly, but he could see the youth in her face. He had to remind himself of that. Yes, she was gorgeous. Stunning. She had a smile that could stop anyone in their tracks, and a perfect face to match. Daryl thought she had to be the prettiest girl he had ever seen in his entire life. He had never seen anyone who was the definition of beautiful before, but Beth fit into that category.

And that was bad, really bad. He should not have thought that all, but the thought still crossed his mind when he looked at her. Every time he glanced over at her.

Daryl stopped thinking about it, pushed the ideas of Beth out of his head. He could not afford to let his mind go there.

That would be dangerous.

Ridiculous, actually.

Pretty girls, good girls like Beth were untouchable to guys like Daryl. He knew the rules. And he damn well abided by them without question.

But there was a part of him, a small part, that told him that something about this girl was different. She was special. She was not like the others. And he felt drawn to her even though his mind told him that he shouldn't be.

—

"Let's go this way," Beth suggested once they were outside, back into the oppressive summer weather.

"Why?"

"Don't you remember me sayin' that I wanted to get coffee or somethin'? I mean, my doctor says that I'm not supposed to have a lot of caffeine so I guess that's out of the question. So, how about we talk over lunch? We can go to that cafe down the street. You must be starving, and I know I am."

She watched as Daryl stared at her for a brief moment, then looked around, uncertain, and in disbelief. "Are you seriously talkin' to me?"

"Yes, of course."

Daryl scratched his scruff. "Alright, fine."

The two of them walked down the wide street, wandering off into the road at a few points because the side walk ended. It was not long of a walk, and there was a comfortable silence between them as Beth looked around the area at the unfamiliar surroundings, trying to figure out exactly where she had been dropped off at.

When they got to the cafe, Beth was thankful that the place was nice. It was small, cozy, and it had a nice atmosphere to it. The green carpet was a bit of a turn off though, if she might add.

"Sit anywhere you'd like," a woman with frizzy dirty blonde hair and too much makeup told them as they walked in, then gave them a second glance as Beth walked past her with Daryl in tow as she thanked the woman.

Beth chose a booth in the corner with red seating where there was a big window to look out of. And in all honesty, there was not that much to look at in the first place, only the dirt parking lot that had no cars because Daryl and Beth were the only ones in the place, but she liked how the light shown through the windows and she could see Daryl's face better.

Their waitress quickly came over and set down two glasses of water for them, handing over menus for lunch as she absently told them about a special that did not sound that great, and definitely something that Beth's doctor would not approve of her consuming, so she asked for a few more minutes to decide.

Beth glanced up at Daryl, who looked to be a little bit out of place once the waitress left them, curiously throwing another glance their way as she left.

Daryl let his eyes go over to Beth. "You always able to coax strangers into goin' to lunch with you?"

"I didn't give you much of an option, now did I? And you know, you should stop sayin' that. You're not stranger," she reminded him.

"As good as one," he countered, not paying much attention to anything but the menu that had already been in front of him, his eyes blankly wandering over the small print. Suddenly, he glanced back up to her, eyes narrowing, and gruffly asked her, "What are we doin' here?"

Beth furrowed her brows. "What do you mean? We're eating lunch and talkin'."

"Y'know that's not what I meant." When Beth was still in the dark about what he was referring to, Daryl bluntly elaborated with, "You. Me. Here. I don't know what you want from me, girl."

Beth was actually a little bit hurt by the tone he used. But, then again, she guessed that it was kind of abnormal for her to show up at his work and ask him to talk with her over some food so casually. She hadn't thought it all the way through beforehand. They didn't know each other, yet that was the whole point of being in the cafe. Beth wanted to know this mystery guy better. Something inside of her told her that he was someone who was meant to be in her life. And she was definitely going to make an effort to keep him around.

She decided to play her words carefully, telling him the truth.

"Did you really think that I could just walk away from the hospital and have no intention of never seein' you again? That's absurd. Back at the accident...I don't know. You made me feel safe. And I've never felt so connected to someone before like the way I feel with you. I'm usually overly uncomfortable around, as you would say, _strangers_. But with you? I feel fine and completely comfortable. So that makes me want to talk more to you and get to know you better. So to answer your question, that is what we are doin' here."

There was a pause that consisted of Daryl staring at Beth until he uttered, "Oh."

That time he sounded calmer, more even-toned.

"Sorry. Kinda went off on a tangent there. But, am I really that much of a burden? If you want me to go that badly then tell me now because—"

"Didn't say that," he swiftly told her as he cut her sentence off. "Just didn't understand why you would want to be around me."

He then looked away and went back to gazing at the menu, avoiding maintaining her eye contact.

Beth sat there for a moment to collect her thoughts. She was not understanding Daryl's logic. This man helped save her life, for God sakes. How in the world would she have been able to write him off and carelessly toss Daryl off to the side as if he meant nothing to her? And why would she not want to be around him? He didn't make any sense.

Before she could say anything, Beth noticed that the water in her glass was moving back and forth, the middle part of the liquid flowing outward, making a circular shape as the vibration on the table persisted. She glimpsed around for a cause, for some reason fearing an earthquake was causing the trembling, before her eyes suspiciously settled on Daryl. Beth put on hand onto the table and bent to the side so she could look underneath the wooden table. And sure enough, as her suspicions had told her, Daryl's leg was bouncing on the ground, nervously, she assumed.

"You alright over there?"

Daryl abruptly stopped moving. "Yeah. Fine."

She brushed it off, not thinking twice about it.

"Back to what you were saying," she started off with, needing some clarification of Daryl's previous statement to her as she sat back up straight. "What exactly are you implying by sayin' that you don't think I would want to be around you?"

"Nothin'. Let's drop it."

"Okay," she quietly responded, still wanting to know more, but not wanting to push too much and make him not want to talk to her. She didn't want him to get up and leave. That would be the worst case scenario.

Beth perused through the items on the menu some more in silence and decided to follow the doctor's orders of eating healthier and go with a salad that had walnuts and apples mixed in, Daryl doing the opposite and getting a burger. They ordered and as soon as their not so friendly waitress left, Beth felt a flicker of pain shot through her head. She put her elbow onto the table, a frustrated sigh escaping from her lips, and she placed her fingers on the side of her head as the twinge of pain on the left side of her head developed.

Daryl noticed how she was trying to focus on getting rid of the pain. "What's the matter?"

"Headache," she explained, massaging the side of her head gently in an attempt to soothe the pain and ease it away. "A wonderful post-accident gift that I will get occasionally."

"Only for three months, right?"

Beth brought her gaze up and examined Daryl, shocked that he had been listening to what Karen had told Beth all the way back at the hospital. "Yeah, that's right. Still, that's a long time. I'll be in classes in less than three weeks now. Then it will be even more of a nuisance when I can't study."

"College, huh?"

"That's right." Beth huffed, the pain not going way despite her efforts. "Distract me," she pleaded.

Daryl looked frazzled for a few seconds as his eyes darted around the room, thinking of something to say to her. "Um, what are you goin' to school for?"

"That's a good question," she praised, her senses already diverting away from the pain in her head. Beth reached for her glass and took a sip of her water before she went into her explanation. "Well, initially I thought that I would go to be a veterinarian because that's what my dad used to do. But then I decided on going for nursing instead. I like the idea of being able to help people."

"Seems like bein' a nurse would fit you."

She tilted her head to the side. "You think?"

"Yeah," he agreed, nodding his head.

They conversed some more about little things. Daryl asked her about they stay at the hospital and she told him all about it, relaying the healthy diet plan her parents had in store for her, and how her sister promised to sneak her in some foods that were off limits on occasion.

Out of the blue, Daryl asked, "How old are ya anyways?"

So he _was_ curious after all. Beth tried to hold back the smile. "Eighteen."

Their food arrived after that, and Beth quickly dug into her salad that turned out to be really good since she had barely eaten all day. She filled Daryl in on some other minor things that her doctor said. She fed him questions too, asking about things that would scratch the surface of who he was.

She found out that he hunted, had been ever since he was little. Beth didn't know anything about hunting, never personally knew a single person who went into the woods to hunt and camp. But she had to admit that Daryl seemed like the kind of guy who would be meant for being out in the woods, surviving in the elements.

After Beth stabbed a lettuce leaf with her fork, she caught Daryl staring at her when she was deep in thought. "What?" she asked, a bit self-conscious that she might had food on her face.

"Nothin," he relied. "I'm not normally this talkative, I guess is all."

"Me either. But you're really easy to talk to, Daryl."

And that was the truth. Something about their conversation flowed in a natural way. She got the message that Daryl was not much of a talker even before they had sat down to eat, but she somehow had been able to get him to reveal some stuff about himself to her as they ate. And Beth usually was not too chatty either, but she got this strange urge inside of her that told her to reveal more information about herself as well.

They finished up, Beth reaching to get her wallet out of her purse. "I got it," Daryl said, before her handed the check to the waitress as she passed by.

"Oh. Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Beth smiled. "Thank you."

"You gotta stop sayin' that to me," he remarked, referring to how she had said thank you for saving her from the accident numerous times before. "Hey, how are you gettin' home?"

Right then she realized that she did not have a phone to call her sister with like she had promised to do when she was done at the mechanic's shop. "Damn it," she cursed. "I don't have a phone with me. I was supposed to Maggie, my sister, and have her pick me up. She's out with her secret boyfriend, Glenn."

"Yeah, I know him."

Beth perked up, interested. She raised one eyebrow. "You know Glenn?"

"Drops his car off at the shop for inspection. Funny guy. Bad luck with cars, though. His car always has dents and scratches on them. Damn shame, too. It's a nice car he's got."

"I've never met him," Beth pouted, sounding sad. "But it's good to get a character reference from someone else. Just remind me to never let him borrow my car once it's fixed."

Daryl got up from his seat and stood as he looked down at her, looking out the window and then back to her as his fingers tapped against his pants anxiously. "You need a ride home?" Daryl hesitantly offered.

She grinned. "I would love that, if you don't mind."

_**A/N: I actually really love how this chapter turned out. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! :)**_


	6. Chapter 6

The glimmer of the trees from the sun passed as Beth observed from the passenger side window of Daryl's blue and gray 1973 Ford F-250 truck. The sun was still fairly high in the sky despite the time approaching evening hours.

From the outside looking in, one would infer that Daryl and Beth had known each other longer than the amount of time that they had. She sat comfortably in his truck as she directed him to the road that brought them to her house.

It all felt very natural to her, as odd as that may seem.

Talking with Daryl seemed to be so free-flowing, and there was a certain ease to it that put their conversations into a comfortable zone. There was no stress or feeling like there had to be words in between silences. Beth would have normally felt past the point of uncomfortable if there had been long lapses in conversing with anyone else other than her immediate family members, but with Daryl things were different.

There was a comfortable silence that neither of them felt obligated to fill in with useless words, until something of interest popped into one of their minds, and it was usually Beth who sparked up a new topic.

"Maggie is gonna take me apartment hunting tomorrow," she started, remembering what her sister had told her on the car ride over to the mechanic's shop. "She must have gotten bored at some point because she did all this research so now she has a whole list of places to see that are the right price. I already know she's gonna be draggin' me all around."

Daryl kept his eyes on the road, letting out a chuckle. "You close with her?"

"Yes, very. We used to argue a lot when we were really young but that doesn't happen too much anymore. She's like a best friend to me. I can always count on her."

"That's nice," he commented. "To have someone you can depend on."

Beth adjusted her seat belt, it feeling like it was too tight around her. She loosened it up, turning to face Daryl. "What about you? Do you have any siblings?"

"A brother."

That was it, all he told her.

Beth bit her lip, trying to decipher from the lack of expression on Daryl's face if she should ask for more details about this brother of his.

"Is he older or younger than you?"

"Older," he stated.

"Cool."

Beth turned back to face straight ahead to look at the road. It didn't seem like Daryl was going to be very open, and Beth took a guess that maybe this brother was a sore subject for Daryl, and was one that he did not want to talk about.

After a few minutes, Daryl spoke up again, claiming, "I ain't good at the whole talkin' 'bout personal stuff."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," she genuinely declared.

Daryl took in a deep breath and then expelled it back out. "My brother, Merle, he, uh, he's locked up right now."

Beth turned back to him, her eyebrows raised. "He's in jail?"

"That's right. Dumbass got busted for having drugs and…"

He didn't finish the sentence, and it seemed like he had purposefully stopped himself before he could reveal what else his brother was in for.

"You can tell me," Beth softly encouraged. "I'm not gonna judge him or anything like that."

Daryl threw a quick glance over to her to see if she was telling the truth, and he sounded surprised when he said, "Really? I sure as hell would. But, uh, he got arrested for some drugs and…soliciting prostitutes."

Beth inadvertently let out a short, shocked laugh before covering her mouth. "Oh, wow." She turned back around and let her head rest onto the back of the seat, attempting to hold back the surprised smile that tried to work its way onto her face. "I can honestly say that I was not expectin' that."

"That's Merle for ya." Then Daryl laughed and shook his head at the situation, finding it to be funny. "Yeah, he's a real idiot."

"Sounds like he is quite the character."

"That's one way to put it."

A few beats passed, and Beth noticed that Daryl subtly glanced over at her twice as she had turned her head to look out the side window again. Out of the corner of her eye, she could tell by the way that he started to tap his thumb on the steering wheel at a fast pace that something was on his mind.

"What is it?" she questioned.

He cleared his throat. "I ain't never done shit like that," he explained, clarifying. "Only Merle."

Beth thought that it was sweet that he wanted to explain that he was not like his brother in that way, being someone who would take drugs and get with women who were selling their bodies. But, really, it was unnecessary for him to explain that. She could already tell that it was not in his personality to be that kind of guy.

"Oh, I know. I wasn't even thinking that. Thought never crossed my mind," Beth assured him with a small smile. "Not for a second."

Daryl gave her a brief nod and a half smile before turned his attention back to the road ahead. She hoped that she was able to settle that need to inform her that he was not that guy, not like his brother. In fact, she kind of hated that Daryl felt the need to explain that he was never like that to her in the first place. A lot of people probably assumed that Daryl was similar to Merle. But as far as she could tell, even from what little information he had given her, she knew that Daryl was almost an opposite of Merle.

They hit a bump in the road and it jolted Beth because she was smaller, weighed less, and her body shifted around inside the truck. "Sorry 'bout that. Didn't see the pothole in the road. Was distracted by somethin' else…"

"Distracted drivin' is bad," she him in a monotone voice, repeating what her mother would tell Maggie, Shawn, and her at every chance that she got to the point where they all wanted to never drive with her in the car. The other part of the saying came to her, and Beth mumbled, "Almost as bad a drunk drivin'."

_Way to put a damper on the mood, Beth. Way to go_, she scolded to herself.

Daryl must have been aware of her sudden uneasiness after she said those last words, and he offered up some comfort by telling her, "You're safe here."

"I feel safe," she instantly replied, not thinking about the words before she said them to Daryl.

"You do?"

Beth quickly contemplated if she should say the words that were on the tip of her tongue. However, she got the idea that she was not going to scare Daryl away by saying them, so she went with it.

"I've always felt safe with you," she said in a whisper-like voice. "Ever since you got ahold of me before I passed out after that accident."

It took Daryl a minute but he finally muttered the word, "Oh."

She quickly changed the subject after that. "How long do you think it'll take to fix my car?"

"Only got a glimpse of the damage on the way out, but I'll take care of it, don't worry. I'll get started on your car tomorrow."

"So, what made you wanna be a mechanic?" she asked, interested in his reasoning.

Daryl shrugged one shoulder. "Don't know. Was just somethin' I was good at. Needed to do somethin'. Figured might as well go with it. Ain't like I was ever gonna be doctor or anythin' like that. School was never my favorite place to be."

Beth giggled, adjusting her ponytail that was becoming loose. "Maggie used to hate it, too. She would pretend to be sick to get out of goin' to school in the mornings. Believe me, she's not a morning person. I don't talk to her before nine o'clock. Any time before that would be dangerous. And my dad must have known she was faking feeling sick in high school but he would still let her stay home sometimes."

"This sister of yours also sounds like a character," he inferred, going off of what she had previously said about Daryl's older brother.

"Oh, she is." Beth pointed to a road that was coming up. "Turn here and take this all the way back. My house is at the very end."

They drove down the dirt road, kicking up some of the dust behind them as Daryl got closer to her house, it finally coming into view. From the lack of cars on the property, Beth knew that Shawn must have left for his college already, wanting to move into his shared apartment early, having said goodbye to Beth earlier that morning after being home for only a day. Beth also assumed that since her mom's car was not there that her parents were out, probably on one of those date nights that they still went on, even after years of marriage.

Daryl stopped so that he was not very close, which she understood. It was foreign territory to him.

Maggie was out on the porch, getting up from her rocking chair and setting her book down. She walked over to put both hands on the wooden railing in front of her, then put one hand up to block the sun from invading her eyes too much. Beth knew she must have been curious as to who Daryl was. Beth had texted Maggie from Daryl's phone at the diner to tell her that she was getting her own way home and that she would meet Maggie at their house by dinnertime.

Beth took in a breath, not wanting to leave the truck. "You sure you don't wanna come meet Maggie? I know she would love to meet you and smother you with thank you's for—" she paused for a moment, recalling that Daryl did not like it that much when reminded that he helped save her life "—_helping _me when I was in the accident."

Daryl glanced over at Beth's sister and then back to Beth. "Maybe another time," he brushed it off. "Rain check on that?"

That was okay with her. Daryl was like Beth in the way that they were both fairly shy people, and she knew how much she disliked initially meeting new people, so she didn't press for him to come over anyways. Besides, from the look of it, Maggie was only observing from her place on the porch. It was not like she was marching over to them, demanding that Daryl introduce himself.

"Okay. I will accept that rain check this time."

Beth hopped down out of the truck, her boots clunking down onto the dirt before she closed the door. She began to walk towards her house but then changed her mind and turned around. She went around to the other side of the truck, Daryl rolling down his window for her. She said, "Thanks again for lunch and for drivin' me home."

"Don't mention it."

Beth smiled in reply. "I'll see you soon," she promised, hinting that another encounter was in the near future.

"See you then," he responded as he put his truck in reverse.

Beth backed away from the truck and let Daryl back up so he could turn around and drive back down the road. She watched him leave, forgetting about her sister's observance of her actions from behind her. She turned around to see a smiling Maggie as soon as the truck went out of view.

"My, oh, my," Maggie cooed from the porch. "Watchin' him as he goes off into the sunset, are you?"

Beth bounced over to the porch steps, feeling exuberant from the day she spent with Daryl. "Stop. I wasn't starin'. I was looking at some flowers by the road over there."

She laughed at Beth's weak attempt to evade Maggie's clear surveillance of what had happened and where Beth's gaze had really been. "Oh, _okay._ Sure. The flowers are oh so interesting all of a sudden? What did you two do all afternoon? I can't believe that the shop Glenn told me about was the one Daryl works at. Pretty weird, huh?"

The two girls opened up the front door and walked inside, having the house to themselves for a little while longer.

"Totally weird. But I was really happy to see him, so I'm not complainin'."

—

Daryl wasn't shocked when he drove down that separate road and rolled up to that big white house with three chimneys and balcony that overlooked the front of the huge property, everything looking so clean and well kept. He had figured that Beth was the kind of girl who would have been brought up in a wealthier family, had everything that he didn't when he was growing up many years ago. If she had been anyone else, Daryl would have spit in the other direction and mutter some comment about rich bitches. He had come in contact with a few of those in his lifetime, always looking down at him as if he were a rabid animal.

Always rude.

Impatient.

Felt entitled to the world.

Always annoyed the fuck out of him.

And always talked to him as if he never made it past fifth grade.

Which he fucking did, by the way. Made it all the way to graduation when he was eighteen. But it was not like they assumed that. Daryl was just some dirty redneck to them, one with no purpose in life other than to do the lowest level of dirty work.

And, hey, he didn't think too highly of himself, but he knew that he was not some low life like they thought he was.

Even now that he knew where Beth came from, he did not look at her any differently. She was still the same girl who liked to consistently tell him that he saved her from the accident. The same girl who showed up at his work and somehow, without even asking, managed to make Martinez let him leave early, and that rarely happened. And above all, she was definitely the girl who made him want to go to lunch with her and offer to drive her home even though he never did anything like that before with anyone.

Never.

Not one single time.

This Beth Greene intrigued him in a way that no one else ever had.

A fraction of his being old him to stop this now, that he could not let this go on. Told him to get out while he still could.

Funny thing was that he _couldn't._

Daryl had known Beth for just barely a week and he could not bring himself to tear away from her completely. There was something that kept him there.

Thing is, he knew better than to get too close. Under no circumstances did Daryl get close to people. He didn't want to, and had little desire to. And now there was a tiny part of him, which is actually quite a big part but he won't admit to that, which wanted him to get closer to Beth. That part of Daryl told him that it was okay and that it would be safe to do that.

Scared the fuck outta him.

Daryl did not, in any realm, know how to have any kind of relationship with anyone. All of his have been broken ones that had no meaning, no substance to them. Nothing real. Even his relationship with his own brother was damaged, always had been. Daryl avoided any kind of relationship like it was the plague.

Yet, despite all of that, Beth kept him coming back and Daryl didn't push her away. He even let himself open up here and there. His mind frequently traveled back to her no matter where he was, no matter what he was doing. One week. One fucking week that he had known her for and he somehow had been hooked onto her, not able to let go.

It was still dangerous to be that way, he knew it, he really did. There was no debating that fact.

And, yes, Daryl knew that she was young.

So fucking young.

_Practically a baby_, as Merle would probably say if he knew Daryl was hanging around Beth.

And Daryl was approaching thirty six. He was sure that is not okay, and he was sure that he should not think about Beth as much as he had been ever since he pulled her from the wreck. But Daryl could not help but let his thoughts wander as he drove back to his place in the quiet and scarcely visited woods, remembering the expression on Beth's face as he had looked in his mirror to see her standing there watching him drive away from her house.

_**A/N: Thanks for reading!**_


	7. Chapter 7

It had been five days since she last saw Daryl, and Beth was practically crawling out of her skin to see him again.

She had never felt that way before. Never felt like she would collapse onto the floor and not be able to get up for half a century if she did not see a certain person.

Daryl was that person.

Beth held onto her new phone in hands, the one that replaced the damaged one. Daryl's number was loaded into the contact numbers, and she was looking down at the nine digits and his name that displayed on the bright screen of her phone. She could call him and say hello, right? Or maybe that would be too much and she would be pestering him. Or maybe he was one of those people who kept their phone on silent all the time and he would not see that she was calling.

Should she wait for him to call her? Would he do that? Or was he the one waiting for her to call him?

Beth audibly sighed as she continued to stare at the phone. Too many damn questions were going through her head all at once.

And, of course, never any clear answers.

Unfortunately, she could not make a decision because her mother's voice from downstairs called out Beth's name. She plopped the phone onto her bed and traveled down the staircase and into the dining room where her mom was looking at some of the good plates in the dark wood china cabinet that was up against the wall.

"Beth, honey, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure. What?"

She handed over a long list to her. "Could you go to the grocery store and pick this stuff up. We are having the neighbors over for dinner along with Otis and Patricia tomorrow but I can't go pick up the food for dinner and for the rest of the week because I need to be here. Your dad called and said he found a stray dog that had been hit by a car on the side of the road. He is bringing it back here because he needs to stitch the poor thing up."

"Oh, my. A dog?" she asked, worried about the condition it might be in, and horrified by how someone could hit an animal like that and leave in on the side of the road with injuries.

"Yes. Apparently it's in pretty bad condition. So I need set your father's tools up for when he gets back and help him since Patricia can't get here in time." She when over to her purse that was on a hook on the far dining room wall, getting out her car keys and her wallet. "Here is my credit card. If you need to stop and get gas, use that card for that too."

Beth pouted, jokingly. "You want me to shop for food _and_ fill your tank? Parents are gettin' really demanding these days."

"Oh!" her mother expressed, waving her hand at Beth while trying to hold back an amused grin. "I would have done anything my parents asked of me when I was your age. You know, when I was growing up—"

Not again.

That first part of the statement had been and always would be a sign to get away before she heard something like, _when I was growing up_ _I cleaned the whole house from top to bottom on my hands and knees_ _with a toothbrush because my mother asked me to clean, or when I was growing up I took care of my seven brothers and sisters, went to school full time, and then cooked dinner for everyone, got them showered and then wrestled them all into bed for the night._ There was a new story every time, some of them contradicting the other. Her mom would often immensely exaggerate anything to prove a point, which just so happened to be one of the things that Beth loved most about her mother.

"Bye, mom," Beth quickly interrupted, practically running to the door to escape hearing another one of those crazy stories that she found hard to believe most of the time. "Love you. I'll see you when I get back."

"Be careful, sweetheart!"

It did not occur to Beth until she was strapped in and pulling out of the driveway that this was the first time since the accident that she had been alone in a car. Her heart raced for a moment, but then returned to its normal pace, thankfully.

_It's okay_, she thought, _everything will be fine._

—

Beth was in her own world, the usual thing that happened, as she went through the many store aisles with her cart. She giggled to herself as she perused through the list that her mom gave her before she left. Beth was convinced that her mom was using Beth's own doctor's recommendations for healthy eating to force everyone in the house to get on the program too.

She was almost done her shopping when she turned down the aisle of what Beth would consider to be completely random items all throw into one. Seriously, who would put the bread in the same aisle as the cleaning products and the variety of pasta sauces and then jars of canned fruit?

Beth ignored the strange layout of the store she was in and decided to just get the bread and the canned tomatoes and the other last few things on the list so she could get out of there and stop listening to the horrible grocery store music that was played over the intercom.

"Are you stalking me?"

The voice startled her so much that she almost dropped the glass jar of diced tomatoes she had picked off the shelf and had been examining. She almost turned to rush in the other direction, but then her brain made the connection that she knew that voice very well. A stunned Beth turned to her left, eyebrows raised, and blinked twice over at Daryl who stood there looking back at her.

It took a moment for her brain to register that, in fact, it was him.

"Yes," she quipped, once she met his dark blue eyes. "I've been taking hundreds of photos of you with my camera all day long. Everywhere you go! I came in here to get a closer look. Me and my refined stalking abilities are doin' such a good job."

"Very funny," he commented, taking a loaf of bread off the shelf.

Beth giggled, also taking a loaf, going specifically the whole wheat bread, and tossed it into her cart along with the rest of the items she had picked out. "I'd be a really bad stalker if I openly admitted it to you," she pointed out. "And also a really bad one if I was spotted so easily. So, no. I promise I'm not stalking you. But, maybe _you _are the one stalking _me_. You do hunt so stalking would probably be pretty easy for you since you already have trackin' skills. Just switch up your game from animals to humans."

"Yeah, I work all day fixin' cars and then I shift into stalker mode for on the side," Daryl smirked, walking past her. "That's what I do in my spare time."

Beth turned the cart around to follow him down the aisle, enjoying his humor, and also not knowing how they had gotten so far into the topic of their conversation. "Wait a minute! I can't believe I actually ran into you again. In a grocery store, of all places. Y'know, twice could be a coincidence. Three times is something else."

He twisted his head over to look at her once she strolled up next to him, Daryl's deep blue eyes narrowing in the slightest amount, and the very nature of them making Beth's heart flutter momentarily. "Somethin' else?"

Beth shrugged a shoulder, not knowing what the _something else_ was exactly. "Yes. Like the universe tryin' to tell you that we shouldn't go five days without talkin'," she hinted at.

"You been countin'?"

Beth dropped her smile and turned her face the other way, pretending to be fascinated by some items at the end of the shelf as they moved into another aisle. "No. I just happen to have a good memory."

It was lie. She had been counting.

"You could have called me, y'know," Daryl nonchalantly added. "If you really wanted to."

Beth reached over and grabbed a bottle of salad dressing, which was the last thing that was on the list that her mother gave to her. "True," she acknowledged. She paused for a second, biting her lower lip. "But would you have wanted me to?"

Daryl took some time to respond with, "Wouldn't have minded."

Beth easily hid the smile that crept up on her face and widened as she neared the cash register. "Well, now I know." Beth knew she wanted to get more information out of Daryl while she had him there with her, a view into his life, so she asked, "It's Friday. Are you doing anything interesting tonight?"

"Goin' huntin'."

"Oh, really? For how long?"

"Only the weekend. Don't worry. I'll be back workin' on your car Monday. It's almost done."

Beth shook her head, smiling. "I wasn't worried about the car."

Beth was then suddenly preoccupied by what all Daryl was going to be buying from the store. "Do you always buy that much food?" she questioned as she pointed her finger at his items, eyes examining what all he had in his cart.

Then it dawned on her that he might be buying for more than one person. Her heart felt like it was going to fall out of her chest at the thought of Daryl going home to a girlfriend. She knew he was not married because there was no wedding band on his finger, but that didn't mean that he wasn't with someone. And honestly, Beth was taken aback by the abrupt sensation of disappointment and…jealousy?

Was that what she felt?

Was she actually jealous of the thought that Daryl might be taken?

Beth shifted her position, captivated by the thoughts that ran through her head. She then blurted out without thinking, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

Oh no.

She had actually asked the question. Out loud. _The _exact question that every girl asked a guy who they were interested in. Daryl would surely see right through her. At that moment, Beth wanted to crawl into a hole and stay there for a while until her face no longer felt as if it were going to burst into flames at any second. If the feeling in her cheeks was any indication, then she must look as red as a tomato.

How wonderful.

Daryl chuckled to himself as they pulled into a checkout line with one person ahead of them. "No. Nothin' like that."

Beth tried to ignore the relief that washed over her, telling herself that she would sort it all out later when she was home and could think better of it. But she would be lying if she said that her sister's earlier comment about Beth having a crush was not in the back of her mind, sitting there, and not allowing any thought to look past it.

And if Beth had somehow miraculously been subtle the first time, she most definitely was not when she added, "I'm not seein' anyone, either."

Her eyes widened at herself as soon as she vocalized the words. She was going to need to duct tape her mouth shut for the remainder of the time she was with Daryl. It would be the only solution. Who knew what else would come out of her mouth if she didn't.

Daryl had turned around, about to say something, but stopped. At first, Beth was not paying much attention to him because of her whole embarrassment over her previous question. But when she grew tired of glancing over the trashy magazine covers that were filled with lies of how to lose weight fast and how to make wrinkles instantly go away with pictures of not real, photoshopped people plastered all over them with too much exposed flesh, she finally drifted back to her reality to become aware of how Daryl had not moved from facing her direction.

Beth noticed that Daryl had his eyes locked on something on her. She looked down, expecting to see that there was a clothing sticker still on her or a pen stain on the white tank top, but there was nothing. Then Beth realized that he was staring at the light pink scar that started at where her arm met her shoulder, it running diagonally towards the middle of her body, two inches below her collarbone that had resulted from the crash. It was not a big scar, only about four inches in length, but it was evident to Daryl at this distance. The other tops that she had worn in Daryl's presence that not revealed the mark on her skin, and she guessed he was surprised to see that it was there.

Daryl's eyes then snapped up to hers, embarrassed that he had been caught staring for so long. "Sorry," he quickly apologized, turning halfway in the other direction. "Didn't mean to look."

"That's okay. You don't need to apologize." Beth rubbed her fingers against the pink line. "It's just a scar."

Daryl met her eyes for a moment, seemingly lost in what to say. He blinked a few times before he dropped his gaze to the ground, then started to load his items onto the belt so the cashier could ring them up.

Beth was confused by this. Daryl looked as if he had more to say, like he was holding something back from her. But, like always, she would not hound him for answers or make him tell her what was on his mind. If he wanted to tell her something or ask her something, then he had to do it on his own time and when he wanted to.

Daryl waited for her as Beth paid for her things and directed her cart outside to her mom's car. To her surprise, Daryl offered to help her put all of her bags in the trunk. Well, he actually started loading them in without asking, which Beth thought was sweet since he took the initiative. She also thought that it was funny how he could pick up four bags in each hand and load them into the car, and she smiled because she would never be strong enough to lift them all in one shot.

"We're havin' neighbors over for dinner tomorrow," Beth explained, not realizing how much food she had in the car once it was all grouped together in the reusable eco-friendly grocery bags that her mom carried around in the car, insisting that they all use them instead of the regular plastic ones that the stores offered.

"Oh, yeah?"

Beth nodded. "Yes. Do you wanna swing by before you go huntin'?" she asked, already knowing what his answer would be, but wanted to put the offer out there if she caught him by the rare chance that he would say yes.

Daryl sighed. "I, uh, got other stuff to do."

"That's okay," she told him. "It's not that much fun anyways. A bunch of adults talkin' about real world stuff. And then some farming business. About as exciting as listening to a political debate during campaign season."

Daryl half smirked, appreciating that she had not made him feel bad for declining the generous offer to come over for dinner. She understood being in a place filled with strangers and talking was not his forte.

He bent down and picked up the bag of dog food that was underneath the cart, also placing it securely into the trunk. "Didn't know you had a dog."

"Technically we don't," she told him. "My dad found one that had been hit today by the side of the road. Probably a stray. He's got to be fixin' the dog all up by now. Said it was pretty bad. So now there's a dog at my house."

"Sounds interestin'."

"I'll let you know how it goes once I'm back home."

The two of them lingered for a moment with nothing to do, trying to put off the inevitable goodbyes and the leaving part. Beth really hate that part. Having to go separate ways disappointed her more than it should.

She watched as Daryl glanced over at the car and then to her with a suspicious expression on his face. "You okay drivin'?"

She knew what he meant by it. "I'm good. No panic attacks or anythin'. It feels fine to be behind the wheel, I promise."

He gave her a nod, accepting the answer. "Alright. I'll see you later," said Daryl.

She nodded, smiling. "Yeah, of course."

Daryl turned around and started walking to his truck that was further down the parking lot. "Have fun huntin' this weekend!" she called after him, realizing that she had not mentioned that yet. She thought about it for a second, closing the trunk of the car, then added with a smile, "You'll have to take me sometime."

Even though Beth had been a vegetarian for years now, she would not mind going into the woods with Daryl,_ alone_, just the two of them. Even if it was to hunt animals. She would do anything in the world for it to be exclusively just them.

That idea of a crush popped back into her head as Beth realized that she had stolen a glance of Daryl's backside as he walked away. She decided that what Maggie had said must be true. Beth definitely had a crush on Daryl Dixon. And she hadn't a clue about what to do about that.

Daryl smirked back at her, halfway in the middle of the parking lot. "Oh, yeah? We'll see about that."

—

_**A/N: Something about Daryl in a grocery store makes me almost laugh so I really wanted to write this chapter. I don't know why it seems so funny. Maybe because it would have been such a normal thing to do in a world without walkers. **_

_**In other news, it's beginning to get painful waiting for October 12**__**th**__**. *loudly sighs because it's not fair to have to wait this long* **_


	8. Chapter 8

The dog that her daddy brought home was in worse condition than she thought. By the time Beth had gotten home the dog had already been stitched up and her daddy had gave it a shot to suppress the pain and another one to make the dog sleep.

Beth and Maggie snuck into the room the dog was being held in later that night, meeting the dog for the first time. It was a younger looking German Shepherd with a beautiful coat of mixed blacks, whites, and browns. He had dark brown eyes and big ears that perked up when Beth and Maggie entered the room, quickly shutting the door to the downstairs office behind them.

"Hey there," Beth greeted in a nice tone, slowly making her way over alongside her sister so that they did not spook the dog.

"He's so cute," Maggie whispered.

The dog was wary of them at first, but quickly warmed up, rolling onto his side so they could rub his stomach, his bushy tail lightly wagging. Needless to say, Beth made quick friends with the animal.

Two days later, they had all been keeping an eye on the dog to make sure he was healing properly. And now he was up and walking around the house, exploring the new territory for a little while until he went and snuggled back into the dog bed that a neighbor had given to them.

Beth thought about a name for the dog since he did not have a collar on that would tell them who the owners were. Beth wanted to name him even though she knew she would not get to keep him because of her mother's allergies to dogs, and her mother had been scratching at her watery eyes ever since the injured dog had arrived. She only put up with it because was an animal lover like her father and the rest of the family. So she allowed the furry houseguest to stay until he was recovered.

In the end, Beth went against her better judgment of trying not to get attached and decided to name the dog Jack. He looked like a Jack, at least she thought so.

That night, she was in bed reading a book when Jack took his nose and opened her door in the amount needed for him to come in. She smiled, seeing that it was a good sign he had been able to make it up the staircase. However, she was then astonished by how Jack put his two front paws up on her bed and hopped right on up. Beth's jaw dropped, still half smiling at how the dog had helped himself to get comfy on her bed.

"No. Down," she scolded, waving her hand.

It didn't work. Jack laid down right next to her and looked at her with adoring eyes that were begging her to let him stay. And, of course, Beth let him curl up at her side as she stroked his mixed colored coat of fur.

And from that point on, even though she knew in her heart she would not be able to keep him, she loved that dog. He was special.

—

Beth went to pick up her car two days later, more excited to see Daryl than to get her car back. Maggie said to Beth for the thousandth time that she had a crush. Beth denied it again, but knew that her sister's insight was one hundred percent true.

Her sister dropped her off in the late afternoon, reminding Beth to meet her at an apartment for lease in two hours. Apparently, Glenn, who she still had not met, did some asking around and found a place that was affordable in the area that he lived, about five minutes away from his own apartment. Maggie seemed to be excited about it, already seeing the place when Glenn showed her, and also seemingly more at ease knowing that Beth would be close to Glenn if she needed anything.

Maggie drove away as Beth walked through the open garage, the weather nice enough that it was not sweltering outside. She immediately saw Daryl cleaning off some tools in the corner.

"Hi," Beth greeted Daryl, locking her hands behind her back as she stood still.

Daryl turned around, setting down the rag and the wrench. "Hey." He extended his arm out to her car to show it off. "All done. Looks brand new. At least I hope it does."

"I wouldn't say brand new," she teased, grinning in the direction of the car. "But about as good as it was before the accident."

"Yeah, yeah," he passed it off.

Daryl tossed her the keys, and she surprisingly caught them in the air, fingers trapping them in her hand. That was good. She did not have to be embarrassed about missing them and having the keys fall to the floor. Beth tended to be a bit of a clumsy person, lacking in sharp coordination.

Beth opened up the car and got inside, looking around from top to bottom, seeing that it looked like nothing had ever happened to it. Her smile then faded, the feeling of uneasiness passing over her for a brief moment.

"What is it?" Daryl asked, leaning his hand onto the open driver's side door.

Beth shook her head, pushing out the thoughts. "Nothing. Weird feeling being back in here, I guess." She then found something to smile about again. "Last time I was in here you were helpin' me get out," she recalled. "Have I ever said how glad I am that I met you, Daryl Dixon?"

He rolled his eyes at her. "Only a hundred times. And feel free to stop at anytime."

"I don't think a hundred would ever be enough," she said, starting the engine, throwing a glance over to Daryl, almost able to catch the corner of his lips turn up in the smallest fraction of an inch.

"It is."

"Maybe not," she cooed.

Daryl huffed, the corners of his lips now turning up all the way, unable to force the smile back. "Let's change the subject."

"To what?"

"Anythin' else."

Beth thought for a moment, turning the keys of the car again so it shut off the engine, and she exited her car. "You did a really good job on the car," she decided to go with, and then circled the vehicle to inspect further. Everything was fixed.

"It's what I'm here for. Finished it late on Monday night."

Beth thought it was really nice of Daryl to have stayed late to finish her car. She wondered if he had ever done that for someone else before. "So, how was hunting this weekend?"

"Fine. The usual."

"What's _the usual_?"

Daryl leaned up against a car that was opposite to her, crossing his arms. "Away from all the noise for a few days. Away from any responsibility. Clear my head."

"Is it hard to come back after being out in the woods in the peace and quiet? I would think it would be. I certainly would never want to come back," she said as she thought about the idea of being out in the woods in the quiet as Daryl had described. It sounded so calming to be out in the fresh air for days.

"Sometimes it's harder than others."

"So, what are you doin' today?"

"Hangin' here for most of it. There's a ton of work to be done and Martinez still has a hangover so it'll be just me until he gets in…_if_ he gets in."

Beth frowned. "That's not fun."

Daryl shrugged. "No big deal. He covers for me if I'm gonna be in late. Besides, I like it better when it's just me here. Martinez talks too much."

Beth let out a small laugh. "I bet he's got _a lot_ to talk about. He seems like he's really funny, though."

"More like annoying," Daryl muttered the complaint. "You doin' anything today?"

"I'm meeting Maggie at an apartment she wants me to look at. Glenn found it and she seems to be excited about it. Then she wants me to go see this new zombie movie with her. But I said no way am I gonna go to that. I hate horror films."

"Zombies, huh?"

Beth grinned. "Yes. But Maggie is the horror film lover, not me. Seein' people eaten by zombies? That's horrific. I'm too much of a scaredy-cat to watch that. I'd hide my face the whole time."

"I don't like 'em much either," Daryl agreed, switching his focus to the ground in front of him. "When I was really young, Merle would force me to watch 'em, though. Told me to man up and sit through it. Ain't that fun watchin' people have their throats slashed and intestines cut out when you're seven years old."

Beth was immediately taken aback by the story Daryl had shared with her. "Oh."

Daryl shrugged it off, having heard the sad tone of Beth's voice. "It wasn't anythin'. Merle bein' a jackass and me bein' a pussy." Daryl's eyes widened, looking up at her. "Sorry, shouldn't have said that last part. It's…y'know, offensive."

Beth smiled, not bothered by it that much, although she would agree that she was not fond of the word. "I do have a brother with quite the dirty mouth," she explained to him, recalling the all the vulgar language Shawn used when his friends were around. "Not like I haven't heard it before."

"Your brother gone yet?"

"Yes. He is about to start his senior year of college all the way over in Nebraska."

Daryl snorted. "Nebraska?"

Beth laughed, remembering how everyone had been so confused about why he chose to go there. "Yeah, he followed his high school girlfriend there. They broke up a month later but he got a scholarship so he stayed. I think he really just wanted to get away from here, be his own person somewhere else. He's one of those really adventurous types, a lot like Maggie in that way."

"What about you?" Daryl inquired. "Not adventurous?"

Beth thought about it. "Well, I am to a certain extent, but not as much as my brother and sister. I like to go new places and all, but I would not be willing to move halfway across the world like Shawn would be if he got the opportunity. I'm happy right here in Georgia."

"I've never even been outta Georgia," Daryl mumbled, resuming cleaning up his tools.

Beth perked up, eyebrows furrowing. "Wait. You've never been out of Georgia. Ever? Not once?"

He shook his head. "Nope."

Beth's jaw dropped, shocked that anyone could stay in one state for their entire life, never exiting the border. "Wow. That's kinda amazing. All this time and you stuck around here in Georgia."

"All this time? You tryin' to call me old?" Daryl weakly joked, pointing out her use of words.

"No!" she laughed out. "I'm not callin' you _old_. First of all, I don't even know your age, _Mr. Dixon_."

"Ugh," he grimaced, forcing a scowl to appear on his face. "Mr. Dixon? Don't call me that. I know I'm double your age, Greene, but you don't gotta be formal."

For some reason, that did not bother her in the slightest. Beth had always believed that age did not play an important factor in a romantic relationship, not that her and Daryl had one, she was only pointing that out to herself, knowing that she liked Daryl a lot and if she played her cards right, maybe she could point that out to Daryl in the future. Because in fact, her parents had a significant age gap between them of twelve years and they seemed really happy together.

"Oh, come on, Daryl. Does age even really matter?"

Daryl didn't have an answer for her, and he was interrupted by his phone that rang. Daryl begrudgingly took it out from his back pocket.

"Go ahead and take it," she offered. "I have to get going anyways."

Beth opened the door to her car and got in, rolling the windows down once she started the engine. She noticed that Daryl had ignored the phone call and walked over to her. "If you have any trouble with the car be sure to call me," he told her.

Beth bit down on her lip. "And I can call you even if there isn't a problem?"

Daryl paused, then nodded, ducking his head down before he said in a low voice that was almost a whisper, "You know you can."

Beth and Daryl exchanged a long gaze before they both turned in an opposite direction. A wave of sadness washed over her, knowing that she was going to have to leave the garage. Leave Daryl. She felt like she had just gotten there, and now she had to go and meet Maggie. And, yes, Daryl was working and said he had a lot of things to catch up on, so it really was not right for her to demand more of his time.

"Maggie will kill me if I'm late," Beth indicated, knowing how much her sister hated it when people were late. Maggie had always been the queen of showing up early.

"Drive safe," said Daryl.

Beth shot him a look. "I drive plenty safe."

"I know, but given what happened…it's everyone else you gotta worry 'bout."

"I'll be extra careful, I promise. But, I'll see you soon."

That last part sounded like more of a question than part of a closing of a goodbye.

Daryl met her eyes and held the gaze for a few more moments. "You know it."

—

As Beth drove off and Daryl was alone again, he felt the absence of her. It was back to being quiet in the garage, only the sound of him breathing in and out as he stood there. There was something about Beth that made the air around him easier to breathe. It was strange, he knew that, but he liked having her there even if it had been a quick visit.

Beth was like some kind of drug. He was addicted to having her around. As many times as he has thought about how he should cut her out of his life in the short period of time he knew her, he couldn't do it.

Just couldn't.

Martinez arrived shortly after, slouching into the garage, looking like he had drank himself to death last night. Daryl laughed at him and the poor physical state he was in. Martinez had a bad habit of drinking way more than his body would tolerate. The guy must have forgotten that he was thirty two now, not twenty two. His body his body didn't bounce back as fast.

"Last night was crazy," Martinez explained. "I don't remember half of it."

Daryl didn't even try to hold back the inevitable snort. "You look like shit. Did you fall asleep on the street? Maybe you should take it easier next time."

"Girls don't like it when I take it easy," he said back, Daryl reading into the sexual innuendo.

Daryl only shook his head, not wanting to know what had gone down last night. He fucking hated hearing about Martinez and his crazy sexual adventures that he felt the need to tell Daryl. Because the thing was that Daryl spent a lot of his evenings in the woods at his house_, alone_, and that was just as he liked it.

"How's the hot blonde?" Martinez asked as he stretched his arms over his head. "Saw her driving down the street as I was coming this way."

_Hot blonde_.

The reference to Beth made Daryl go on high alert. He sighed, turning the other way so he could get onto the ground and slid underneath a car he had been working on before Martinez showed up. He gave the simplistic answer of, "Fine."

"One word answer? Come on, man. I need some details."

Daryl ignored Martinez, and after minutes of silence from him, Martinez got the idea that Daryl was not going to give up anything. And there was not anything to tell him that he would find interesting anyways. Martinez always wanted to know about the dirty stuff, the sex stuff. He sure as hell always told Daryl, who never wanted to know about Martinez's sex life, but the guy found it so be necessary to tell him no matter what.

"Well, all I've got to say about her is that she's hot," Martinez exclaimed, for the sole purpose of trying to annoy Daryl and get under his skin. Martinez reminded Daryl of Merle sometimes when he did that, tried to push Daryl until he snapped. He hated that. "You better not waste your time with that one. She's got these doe heart eyes when it comes to you, my friend. Miss Beth Greene has a crush on Daryl Dixon. Who would have thought?_"_

"Shut up," he muttered, attempting to focus on his work under the car. "She doesn't."

But under there, away from the eyes of Martinez, Daryl allowed himself to think about what he had said. A crush? There was no way that pretty, clean, nice, smart, beautiful Beth Greene would ever be interested in him.

Daryl.

The dirty redneck who fixed her car.

It was absurd.

Daryl had not yet been able to wrap his brain around the fact that Beth wanted to, _chose _to be around him, actively seeking him out.

And as absurd of a thought the whole crush idea was, Daryl didn't stop thinking about Beth the entire time he was at work. The whole fucking time. Almost nonstop. Night fell and he was still thinking about it, almost obsessively. His heart rate would pick up if he started to mull it over in his head too deeply, and that freaked Daryl out.

What was wrong with him?

It was like Beth had some kind of power over him. The scary part was that Daryl did not seem to be bothered by it all that much. If he were entirely honest about it, which he was not, he would say that Beth Greene had worked her way into his life and Daryl wanted to keep her there for as long as possible.

And the thing was that he knew that she was starting college in the next week, and also moving into the Atlanta area, which was a half hour from where he was now. There was the fear that crept up inside of him that he would never acknowledge, one that made him bite his nails down to nothing, only because he thought that there was the very real possibility that Beth would forget about him when she started part of her new life.

It was ridiculous of him.

So juvenile.

Worrying about a girl. Daryl never did that.

He knew it was wrong, knew he shouldn't be so all consumed by Beth, but that force that kept him around her also liked to keep her on his mind. Constantly.

It wasn't fucking fair.

Daryl remained distracted for the rest of the day, not getting as much shit done as he could of. Beth had been on his mind too much for him to put all of his focus onto one thing.

It was dark out by the time he was about to leave the shop. The phone in his back pocket went off, Daryl taking it out to check it before he left for the night. He stopped in the middle of the lot when he saw it was Beth's name that popped up on the text message on the screen.

_Found an apartment! When I'm moved in you have to come by some time :) btw Maggie made me see that zombie movie. I won't sleep for days…_

He stared at the bright screen until Martinez yelled at him from the garage to get the hell out of there and go get some rest.

Once he was in his truck, alone with no one else to see, Daryl couldn't help but smile to himself.


	9. Chapter 9

A week had gone by and Beth had not seen Daryl. It made her feel unsettled a way.

She missed him.

A lot.

More than she should, but Beth was not going to worry about that part. In her mind, she was allowed to miss him all she wanted to.

The problem had been that she had been really busy with moving all of her stuff into her apartment and school shopping and endless doctor appointments. She had called him a couple of times to check in on him, asking about his day and other normal things. The phone calls had always been brief because Daryl had been busy too. Apparently the shop was full of cars that needed to be fixed, so he had been working extra hours, making it impossible for them to find time to meet, which was what Beth really wanted.

She was one day away from starting college and it was not until that day that she finally had everything that she needed all together. Her furniture had been moved in, although there were a number of boxes that needed to be unpacked still, though she felt too lazy to sort through them and find a place to put the various items that were packed together.

The apartment that Glenn had found, which Beth believed he did because he wanted to make a good impression with Maggie's little sister, was actually really nice for the price. It had a medium sized kitchen with white cabinets, a small bedroom with a nice bathroom, and a comfortable living area where a couch and TV were set up by the windows that had light blue curtains drawn across them, the morning light a bit too much for her at the moment.

Beth walked across the hardwood flooring over to the kitchen, shut off the stove and the boiling kettle to pour the water into her mug to make green tea. She knew it was bad but she dumped three heaping spoonfuls of sugar into the tea once it had soaked for long enough. But what could she say? She was a sugar addict just like her sister; a habit that was hard to break.

(Believe her, she's tried and failed many times to give up the sugar)

So she drank her sugary tea and stared at her phone that was placed on the countertop in front of her. More than anything she wanted to dial Daryl's number, which was now on speed dial, all the way at the top number.

Beth drummed her nails against the red mug she had held up to her lips, watching the cellular device. It was a Sunday morning so he wouldn't be working, but he could still be out somewhere. Or maybe he wasn't a morning person and would not want to talk, or maybe he was not even awake yet. She shouldn't bother him this early.

She rolled her eyes at herself, realizing that she was trying to find an excuse not to call him when that was all she really wanted to do.

_Just do it._

So she did.

Beth sat down her almost empty mug and picked up the phone, hastily pressing the number that would link to Daryl's phone.

As soon as it started to ring, Beth came to the realization that she did not have anything to say and had not thought of anything. She quickly tore the phone away from her ear and pressed the end button, setting it back down onto the countertop to stare at it some more as she took a step back.

Beth bit at her nails, a habit that was only one that came out when she was really nervous. And Daryl made her nervous. Boys in general made her nervous, but Daryl did something else entirely to her. All she had done was attempt to call him and her heart rate had picked up significantly at the thought of hearing his voice again, and knowing that she might stumble over her words.

Beth's ideas were immediately halted when the light of her screen lit up on her phone. Of course. She had forgotten about Caller ID. Daryl saw that she had tried to call before she had scared herself into not waiting for him to pick up.

"Come on, Beth, just answer it," she encouraged herself, needing to.

She picked up the phone and answered with, "Hi, Daryl."

"You called?" he asked.

Beth laughed, mainly at how ridiculous she had been before. "I did. But I, uh, dropped the phone and it disconnected."

Well, she wasn't about to tell him the real reason. Even Beth was not above telling a little white lie every once in a while.

"Everythin' okay?"

Beth smiled at the question. Daryl had gotten into the habit of asking her if everything was alright every time that she called. Beth believed it was because he thought there was no other reason for her to call other than if something had gone wrong. Which, of course, was false. She liked to talk to him more than he realized, and that was the sole reason for her ever calling him.

"Everythin' is fine," she assured him. "I'm gettin' settled in here."

"Nice place?"

"Yes. It's in the suburbs so it's relatively quiet around here. It's really nice. I like it. Being on my own is weird, though."

It was true. Beth thought she was ready to be on her own, but it was scarier than when she imagined it. Sleeping in her apartment alone made her hear every little noise that there was, every creak and every honk of a horn from car in the street.

"What floor are you on?" Daryl asked, a certain urgency in his voice.

Beth had already walked over to the window to push the curtains across, looking down onto the street. "Second floor. There's only three altogether. Why?"

Daryl paused. "No reason, really. Wanted to make sure you wasn't on the first. Too many break-ins happen that way. I hear it on the news all the time lately."

A smile lit up Beth's face. He wanted to make sure that she was safe.

"I don't think I have to worry about that as much as I should worry about the gang of drug dealers that are right outside," she teased.

"Hilarious, Greene. Don't make me come down there and scope the place out."

"That actually would be nice," she shyly hinted at. "About you comin' down here."

There was another silent pause from Daryl following what she had said. It made Beth's heart almost race out of her chest.

Daryl sounded surprised when he asked her, "You invitin' me?"

"It's an open invitation. Anytime," she said, smiling to herself and softly biting down on her bottom lip.

He snorted. "You say that now. If I show up at two in the mornin' you wouldn't be too happy, now would ya?"

Beth giggled, entering her room and falling onto her bed, into the mass of decorative blue and white pillows that were lined up. "Depends on the reason you'd be comin' here that late."

She automatically clamped her hand down onto her mouth. The way that she had said it almost sounded suggestive, and she wondered if Daryl had thought she implied that he would be over at her apartment that late for a _very_ different reason than an innocent one.

In the brief second that there was more silence on the other end of the line, Beth had the chance to think about what she had said. Perhaps she _had_ meant it in the way it had sounded and her subconscious had pushed its way through. Because then she started to think about having Daryl there during the night, him in her bed with her, the two of them maybe with no clothes…

It sent a shiver down her spine and Beth began to bite at her nails again.

It was an interesting thought that bounced around in her mind.

Daryl loudly cleared his throat and Beth readjusted her focus. "Did you, uh, call for a specific reason?"

She was relieved that he decided to ignore her previous borderline embarrassing slip up of words. "No," she honestly replied. It only reminded Beth that she should have come up with a readily available excuse before she had called him. Yet, she had nothing. Beth thought about asking a question about her car but there was nothing wrong with it and she did not want to worry Daryl into thinking that her car was having a malfunction when it was actually running smoothly. "I guess all I wanted to hear your voice."

Then she cringed. She was getting to be _too_ honest.

"That sounded like a quote from a bad movie," Daryl remarked. It was almost like she could hear him smiling on the other end of the line, which calmed her. At least she wasn't a complete screw up with her words.

Beth giggled in response. "I know. Sorry about that. It does sound like it's a line from a cheesy romantic comedy. But I swear, I did want to hear you. I haven't talked to you in almost seven days."

"You still keepin' track over there, Beth?"

She was instantly embarrassed about how she had let that out. "No. Like I said before, I just happen to have a good memory," she tried to make it out to be, which was not true. She often forgot many things, had been that way since she was young. But Daryl was not aware of that, so for all he knew, Beth really was not keeping track of the days.

All of a sudden, Beth heard a bark from the hallway. She was immediately alarmed by the noise, it sounding very familiar to her. She shot up from her bed and let her feet hit the floor. There was a light knocking on her door seconds later.

"Can you hold on for a minute? Someone is at my door."

"Go ahead."

Beth moved across the floor to where her front door was, looking out of the peephole only to see that her sister stood in the hall looking around, holding Jack on a leash by her side.

"What in the world?" Beth muttered to herself. She tucked her phone against her stomach so Daryl wouldn't have to hear mashed up voices as she opened the door to meet her sister. "Maggie? What are you doin' here?"

Maggie pushed past Beth and quickly hustled through the doorway and shut the door behind her, relieved that no one had seen here since animals were not supposed to be in her apartment complex.

"I'm sorry to barge in. Annette's allergies are a lot worse," she sadly told her, motioning to Jack, who was the culprit of making Beth's mom's allergies act up. "Can he stay here with you tonight? We need to find him a home ASAP. Annette can barely see out of her eyes because they are so puffy. He can't stay at home anymore."

They had been trying to find the dog a place to live with a nice family with no such luck ever since he had healed from his injuries. It had proved to be harder than expected. And like Beth, Maggie had also grown attached to their furry friend. Neither of them wanted to see him go.

Beth took her hand off of the phone, bringing it back to her mouth. "Daryl, can I call you back? I've got to deal with something."

"Sure. Everythin' okay?" Again, he sounded alarmed by her sudden need to disconnect, worried that something bad had happened.

"Yes. Stop always askin' that," she laughed. "Maggie showed up with the dog I told you about. I've got to go."

He rushed into saying, "Call me when you can."

"I will."

The line went dead and Beth moved so she could set down her phone and adjust her attention to the problem at hand.

"Talking to Daryl, huh?"

Beth ignored her. "Maggie! I'm not allowed to have any pets here," she said in a whisper, though no one outside of the apartment would be able to hear her.

"I know, I know. It'll only be for a little while. It's the only option. You should have seen Annette's face this morning. Swelled up like a balloon. It got all puffy and she could barely see a thing! Daddy said that we had to find Jack a home because Annette's allergies are just gettin' worse and worse. I tried to get Glenn to take him but his roommate is terrified of dogs. So it was a dead end there."

Beth sighed, crouching down to the ground to pet Jack, who then licked her face. "Gross," she remarked, not actually bothered by it too much.

"What if I get in trouble? He'll bark and people will know I have a dog in here," Beth told her sister, concerned.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "But I can't take him to the pound. Keep him here overnight and I'll come over in the mornin' before you head to classes and take him so he won't bark when you're gone."

Beth was hesitant but there was no other option. "Fine. That works."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Beth reluctantly sighed, petting the dog on the head as he sat by her feet, not wanting to leave her side. "He should be good tonight. But make sure you get here before nine o'clock."

"I will. Promise. And maybe you can ask around if anyone wants a dog when you're in class tomorrow? Wouldn't hurt to ask."

"I guess not," she grumbled, not sure about how she felt with approaching strangers about if they wanted a dog or not.

"I've got to go. I'll see you tomorrow." Maggie was gone as quickly as she had appeared, and then Beth was alone with Jack. She wished that she could keep him. The thought of having to let him go made her heart hurt. As silly as it might sound, she had bonded with this dog.

Beth went over to grab her phone to call Daryl back, Jack racing into the living room where he curled up on a soft rug, already looking like he was at home. Only then did she get the idea that maybe Daryl could take him. She remembered Daryl saying that he lived in the woods, no neighbors, plenty of space around the area. The good thing about Jack was that he didn't need a leash to be walked, so Daryl could just put him outside and he could roam around and do whatever it is that dogs do until he was ready to come back inside. No trouble at all.

A dog could be exactly what Daryl needed—a loyal companion.

Beth smiled to herself. If it worked, Beth would know that Jack was in a safe place and that she would still be able to see Jack when she wanted to, and it would also give her an extra excuse to see Daryl.

She had a plan.

Now she would need to set things in motion.


	10. Chapter 10

Daryl was halfway under a SUV when he heard light footsteps coming in his direction across the cement floor of his workplace. He tilted his head to the side and watched as smaller cowboy boots made their way over to him, and then how small hands and knees placed themselves onto the dirty ground at the edge of the vehicle. Glimmering blonde hair that was hit by the rays of sunlight fell onto the floor when Beth's head peeked underneath the car, smiling wide at Daryl.

Damn, was she a sight for sore eyes.

"Having fun under there?"

He put down his tools, otherwise distracted by her. "What are ya doin' here?"

He was happy to see her, of course. But she had never dropped by unannounced before, so Daryl wondered if something was wrong, like he always thought when she called him or wanted to see him. It was ridiculous of him to always be so worried about that but he really couldn't help it. It was almost like it was an instinct now to make sure that this girl was okay.

"I had a horrible day and I don't' feel like goin' home," she explained, still smiling, which made him curious as to if she always looked happy even if she have a bad day.

He was about to ask what happened that day to make it so horrible because he guessed that was the normal thing to do when someone told him that, but his mind went elsewhere when he heard more tracks against the floor. It was an animal, he was sure of that. Daryl ears were in tune to pick up animal footprints anywhere.

His first thought and instinct told him that an animal must have wandered in from the woods nearby and got in because the garage door was open halfway, leaving enough space for it to get in. Daryl swiftly slid out from underneath the car, concerned about if it was some kind of crazy rabid animal—because once again, his main concern is for Beth and her safety.

Nothing new there.

Daryl stood up alerted, eyes scanning the room as Beth got to her feet as well. His eyes then settled on a dark furred dog that sat in the corner looking right at him.

He almost didn't believe it.

Daryl's gaze moved to Beth, questioning why the dog was there. He would have asked about it, only then he got a real glimpse of Beth. She appeared to be disheveled, hair thrown into a messy ponytail with strands of hair coming out, clothes slightly wrinkled with dog hair stuck to them, and some darker circles under her eyes that concealer had not been able to cover up due to the light color of her skin.

She was definitely disheveled.

Daryl liked it.

"Sorry to stop by like this, but I have important matters to attend to." The large dog trotted over to Beth's side when she waved her hand for him. Beth bent down to the floor to pet the animal. "This is Jack," she enthusiastically told him. "He's the one who my dad found on the side of the road. He got hit by a car. Me and him have a lot in common."

Beth said it a little bit too casually.

Daryl hated having to remember that night. Because as Beth had told him, she could have died. And that knowledge was not something that sat well with Daryl; it was a disturbing thought that he chose to try and forget about most of the time. He flinched whenever the idea passed through his mind.

"I need to find him a home…like _today_. He can't stay with me because my lease doesn't allowed pets in my apartment. And my mom's allergies are too much. She can barely see when dogs are around. And Glenn can't take him either because his roommate is afraid of dogs. Now I'm out of options because no one in my classes knows anyone who wants a dog either."

Beth looked up at him then, smiling brightly. He knew what was coming. "No way," he urged as he shook his head, before she could ask.

His refusal didn't faze Beth one bit. "Would you by any chance like to have a dog, Daryl?"

"Beth," he groaned. "Don't ask me that."

Daryl didn't know the first thing when it came to taking care of an animal. Hell, he could barely take care of himself. And now Beth asked him to take in this dog that would live with him. It was such a strange idea in his mind, having an animal live in his house. He had never had that before.

"Why not? You'd be doin' me a favor," she gracefully hinted at. "Please, please, please!"

He decided to be a smartass. "Saved your life. Ain't that the biggest favor I could ever do ya?"

Beth playfully swatted at him as she returned back to her normal stature. She put both hands on her hips (hips that he tried not to notice that she had but failed miserably because he was very much aware of how womanly she looked). "Oh. So now you choose to acknowledge that? I see what you're doing here."

"Ain't doin' nothin'."

"I swear, he's really sweet," she commented, stroking the dog's fur again. "Jack is no trouble at all. He doesn't need to be on a leash or anything. He'll be great. I promise." Beth pouted, and Daryl knew that he was about to cave and say yes, only because Beth seemed so distraught about giving the dog up.

He sighed loudly. "Fine."

Her face lit up, making it all worth it. "Really?"

"Yeah," he grumbled, staring at the dog that he was apparently now the owner of. How the fuck did he get himself into these situations?

Oh right, he wanted to make Beth happy. That was how it happened.

Beth took a few steps towards Daryl. He flinched for only a second by her sudden movements as she got close to him, but then Beth wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight, her body pressed against him. Needless to say, he had no fucking clue what to do. He stood there in shock and a little bit of confusion until she pulled away, bending back down to say something to Jack.

He tried not to miss the way her body had felt pressed up against him. And he also tried not to think too much about the outline of her figure as it had molded against his own.

_Pure thoughts._

_Pure thoughts._

_Pure thoughts._

Yeah, that never worked. Not with Beth.

"Mind if I hang out here for a little while?" she asked, luckily distracting him from dirty inner scenarios that wanted to play out in his mind.

"Go ahead," he offered, also happy that she would be sticking around some more. "But I don't know why you'd want to. This place ain't that fun to be in."

"Well, you're here so that automatically makes it one of the top places I would want to be, and also I don't want to go home and read the first three chapters of my Anatomy and Physiology textbook. I can already tell I'm gonna have no social life because of that class," she sighed. "At least it's only for one semester."

The thing that stuck out most in his mind was the, _you're here so that automatically makes it one of the top places I would want to be_. He didn't know exactly how to feel about that but he did know that he liked the way it sounded when she said it (almost like he was important).

Daryl's brain actively searched for the right thing to say next, knowing that he was shit at the whole talking without being awkward thing.

"Do you, uh, like your other classes?"

"Yes," she quickly responded. "They're good and I like all of my professors. But you know what? We always talk about me. What about you?"

"Me?"

"Yes. Tell me about yourself," she sweetly requested, genuinely wanting to know about him.

_Tell me about yourself._

It was one of the most terrifying things Daryl had ever heard in his life.

"Ain't much to tell," he grumbled.

And there really wasn't. Daryl thought of himself as a fairly boring person and he chose to keep it that way for a reason. His life was not all exciting, and not once did he ever wish that it was. He wanted to blend in with the rest as much as possible. Beth was the interesting one, the one will all the good stories. And it was not until then that he realized that _she_ turned out to be the only exciting thing in his life.

"Tell me somethin', one thing that I don't know about you," she further pressed, trying to get him to open up more.

His eyes traveled over to the dog that was by Beth's side, picking at an easy subject. "Never had a pet before."

Beth cocked her head, smiling at him with sparkling white teeth—a smile that could stop anyone in their tracks and make them forget what the hell there were saying or thinking. "You do now," she sang in a nice voice.

"Stop," he grumbled through a smirk, drawing out the syllables. Daryl questionably looked over at the well behaved dog who was staring right back at him, making Daryl feel like he was in over his head with this.

He was in over his head with a lot of things, actually, and that mainly applied to when it came to the blonde girl who now sat on the floor as the German Shepherd laid down next to her and put its head into her lap, lazily closing its eyes as Beth's gentle hands stroked the fur on his back.

Daryl then scratched his head. "What am I supposed to do with it?"

"Daryl, his name is Jack," Beth corrected him. "He won't reply to _it_. But if you want to rename him _It_ then I guess—"

"I'm not renaming him," he replied to Beth's sarcastic joke. "What am I supposed to do with a dog?"

He could tell that Beth was trying really hard to hold back her smile. It had been a strange question to ask, but he really did not know what to do with this dog.

"There's not much to do. Just feed him and let him out and make sure you pet him a lot. That reminds me that I have his dog food in my trunk. I'll go get it."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh, so you assumed that I was gonna say yes, huh?"

Beth widely grinned again. "Let's just say that I was hoping that you would."

Daryl rolled his eyes and went back to work. When Beth came back in she dropped a huge bag of dog food on the ground, one that he was surprised that she was able to carry. Also with her were a few notebooks that Beth said contained some lecture notes that she received. Daryl watched as he opened the hood of an old car of how Beth sat on the ground and opened up the notebooks, venturing deep into thought as she looked them over.

As the minutes passed, Daryl came to the realization that he really liked having her here, even when she said nothing and he was busy working. At first, he resisted it, knowing that he should not let himself get used to something like this. She would get tired of him, she had to.

Right?

After a half hour of that running through his head, Daryl gave up on the inner thoughts. He should really stop finding reasons for Beth to stop coming by or reasons why she would all of a sudden hate him and not want to be around him. There had been no indication from her that it would be something that she would do. And quite frankly, the shit storm that had been brewing in his head ever since he met Beth was getting to be tiresome and mentally draining.

Martinez came in to work an hour later right as Beth was getting ready to leave, her explaining to Martinez about Daryl's new houseguest, gushing over how Daryl was _so sweet_ to take Jack in.

"How old is she?" Martinez questioned once Beth was out the door and headed towards her car after saying goodbye, Martinez watching her as she went, which annoyed the hell out of Daryl so he threw an oiled rag at him to make him stop.

To be honest though, Daryl didn't want to be reminded how young Beth was.

"Eighteen."

Martinez smirked in the opposite direction as he turned away. "Daryl Dixon and the cute, blonde college girl," she said in a suggestive tone, just loud enough for Daryl to hear the words.

"It ain't like that," he retorted in a mumble.

No, it was not like that. Couldn't be.

"You think she's just coming by here for no reason at all? Don't be blind. A girl like her choosing to come all the way over here? I think she likes you. A lot. Spending all her _precious _free time hanging around this place with you," Martinez said as he raised his eyebrows and pointed over at Daryl. "And I mean_, come on_, man. You took her _dog._ I've seen you give the death stare to people who want to give you a drink at the bar and you refuse to take a beer. Beth offers up a dog and you take it. Just like that. That right there tells me a lot."

"That doesn't tell you shit," he retorted. "Now get back to work."

"Oh, someone is touchy. Did I say the wrong thing? Have I struck a chord? Perhaps I'm so close to the truth that you don't want to admit it."

Daryl ignored Martinez, throwing a glance over to Jack who was laying down in the corner watching what was happening.

He knew that this wasn't normal for him. But he couldn't say no to Beth. She had somehow worked her way into his life, which left him dumfounded as to why she would want to be around him, but he liked her presence so he didn't directly question her on it. She was different and he wanted to keep her there in his life, that was clear to him.

So now he had a dog.

_**A/N: I don't know if it's just me who feels this way, but I agree with what Norman says and I think that Daryl really needs a dog in the show. Someone give him a dog!**_


	11. Chapter 11

Beth was finally going to meet Glenn after begging her sister constantly. Maggie had texted her the lengthy address of Glenn's apartment so that Beth could drive over there and meet them for lunch. On her way over, Beth noticed that the traffic got busier and busier the closer she went into the city. When she got to her destination, Beth parked the car on the street, nearly hitting a stationary vehicle while trying to parallel park.

Never again would she attempt at that.

As she went up the flight of stairs that would lead her up to the apartment marked 37 C, Beth tried to picture what Glenn looked like and what to expect. She had the bare minimum of a description, no pictures or anything to go along with what Maggie had described. Not that it would matter for much longer, but Beth did hope for someone who was not as intimidating looking like the others Maggie had dated.

Once she got to the twelfth floor, Beth stepped out of the stairwell and into a hallway that was dimly lit and had cheap looking framed pictures along the tan colored walls. As she got closer to the number she was looking for, Beth saw a woman with a short haircut in the hallway escorting her young daughter to their door with bags of groceries in her arms, them almost about to fall to the ground as the woman tried to get the key into her front door. Beth rushed over and grabbed one of the brown paper bags before any of the vegetables fell out. "Here," she handed it back upright into the woman's arms.

"Oh, thank you," she timidly replied, avoiding looking at Beth directly, awkwardly smiling in her general direction.

"No problem. Do you need any help with these?" Beth offered, seeing that there was a lot of groceries to be brought in and Beth thought that maybe she could be of some service.

"Oh, no. I've got it." The woman was finally was able to swing the door open and usher her daughter to go inside. "Come on, Sophia. Let's go put these away before you dad gets back."

The way the woman said the words almost made it sound like there was an underlying emotion of fear that came out unintentionally. Before Beth could put more thought into it, the door on the opposite side opened. Beth turned around, alerted by the noise. "Hi, Carol," greeted the guy of Asian descent with jet black hair, looking casual in a T-shirt and jeans.

"Hi there, Glenn," Carol sweetly replied back to him before she shut her door in a hurry, leaving Beth in the hallway and in the silence.

She decided to brush it off this time. Beth looked over at the guy who was in front of her. He was taller than her, but looked friendly so Beth was relieved to see his smiling face. "Glenn?"

He buried his hands into his pockets, shoulders caving in, clearly nervous about Beth being there. He tried to give her another smile that attempted to hide the nervousness. "Yup, that's me. And you're Beth. I've heard a lot about you."

"Beth, get in here!" came her sister's voice from inside Glenn's apartment.

Glenn stepped out of the way and motioned for her to walk through the doorway. "Yeah. Come on in. Make yourself at home. Mi casa es su casa."

Beth entered the apartment quickly to see that Maggie was lounged on the gray couch on the other wall where there was a plasma TV and gaming consoles hooked up, tons of rectangular plastic cases full of video games loaded into the glass storage box underneath. Beth almost giggled out loud about it. She was now sure that Glenn was nothing like any of the other boyfriends of Maggie's. However, the change was good. Very good. Glenn seemed like such a nice guy—Maggie's pizza delivery boy who would play video games nonstop on the weekends in spare time.

Damn, who would have thought?

Glenn's apartment was nice, small, but still livable. The kitchen looked like it had been barely used, which she suspected was because he was a male in his early twenties, meaning he probably lived off of the pizza from the place he worked at. Beth loved to cook so she couldn't imagine never using her own kitchen.

The rest of the apartment was filled with walls were quite bare for the most part, the occasional poster popping up here and there. The flooring was covered by tan carpet and there were lamps on every surface to make up for the lack of good overhead lighting. Beth's favorite part was that there were pictures that were on a table that had Glenn with who she assumed was his sisters all smiling a goofy smile in a close-up.

After an awkward moment that consisted of Glenn and Beth standing in the middle between the kitchen and the tiny dining area, Maggie noticed and bounced on over to the two of them. "Formal introduction time!" she happily announced. "Beth, this is Glenn. Glenn, this is my wonderful little sister Beth. And now since that is over with, let's eat. I'm starving. The Chinese restaurant down the street has excellent food and Glenn decided to treat us," Maggie gushed, placing a kiss onto Glenn's cheek. "Such a good boyfriend."

Glenn rolled his eyes. "It's not a big deal. They give me a discount."

Beth turned to Glenn all the way, trying not to laugh. She guessed that he got a discount because it was a regularly visited place for him. "Well, it's nice to finally meet you after Maggie had insisted on keepin' you a secret for so long. I practically had to drag information out of her."

Maggie put her hands onto her hips. "Hey! He's not a secret anymore. You've met him now. The cat is out of the bag." Maggie went over into the kitchen and grabbed the Chinese takeout boxes out of a bag and set them onto the counter. "Now, you're the one with the secret boyfriend. Ain't that right, sis?"

Beth blushed and rubbed her arm with her opposite hand, hiding her face. "Daryl is not my secret boyfriend," she insisted with a groan. "We've been over this before, Maggie."

The name caught Glenn's attention. He perked up from grabbing plates out of the cabinet. "Daryl Dixon?"

Beth took the plates out of his hand and set the table as Maggie brought the food over with the chopsticks. "That's the one," said Beth, Daryl's name making her inadvertently smile before she could catch herself doing it.

Once they had all sat down at the small wooden kitchen table and started eating, Beth decided that since Glenn knew Daryl, she would pry for some more information even though she knew that she shouldn't. But there was so much she still did not know about Daryl and she just wanted more details wherever she could get them.

Beth thought about asking the first thing that came to mind, which happened to be, "Have you ever met Daryl's brother?"

Glenn almost choked on the noodles he shoved into his mouth. "Merle? Oh, yeah. I've met him a few times…unfortunately."

"Unfortunately?" she pursued.

Glenn took another bite before he answered, carefully considering his words as he recalled the times he had met Merle. "I think he has something against Asians. He's a bit of a racist."

Maggie raised an eyebrow. "A bit?"

"It doesn't bother me, really. Merle is _Merle_. You get used it. Daryl said he's always been that way. Luckily, whenever I stopped by he was rarely around." Glenn shrugged it off, then became distracted, turning to Beth with a curious look on his face, dropping some noodles off of his chopsticks. "But wait. Is it true? You're dating Daryl and it's a secret?"

Maggie was about to spit out her food because she started laughing so hard. Beth briefly contemplated throwing some of her vegetables at her. "Stop it, Maggie!" she squeaked. Beth turned her attention back to Glenn, despite her knowing that a blush was creeping onto her face again and her embarrassment would be obvious. "I'm not dating him. He's not my boyfriend."

"But she wants him to be," Maggie quickly added to the end of Beth's statement.

This was getting to be way too embarrassing for Beth. "Can we not do this here?" she asked, eyes widening at her sister, and nodded her head in Glenn's direction. She had just met him and now Maggie was openly discussing Beth's love life—or the complete lack thereof.

"Okay, okay. I'll drop it."

"You promise?"

"Maybe."

They sat in silence for a minute until Glenn spoke up and said, "Wow. I'm really glad I don't live with my sisters anymore."

"Oh, come on! We're not that bad," said Maggie.

"One of us is," Beth playfully bantered back.

Glenn only laughed, not believing that they were still going at it with each other. He had a front row seat as Maggie and Beth went back and forth.

"Bad? Well, that would have to be you," teased Maggie, pointing chopsticks at her. "Beth, the bad girl. Lusting after a much older man…"

That time Beth really did pick up a piece of broccoli and flung it over at her sister to make her be quiet. However, Maggie laughed and placed the vegetable piece into her mouth. "Thank you! That was delicious."

"Fine," Beth gave in. "I don't care anymore. Since we're on the subject of Daryl, can you tell me anythin' about him, Glenn? With school I don't get to see him as much as I would want to."

"Anything?"

"Yup, anythin' you can think of. He doesn't exactly give out many details. So now I'm resorting to second hand information."

Glenn sat there and thought about it for a minute. "Okay, well, I don't know him that well, but I do know that he is a really good mechanic. I'm talking stellar at it, but he would never admit to it. He's actually a pretty humble guy. Doesn't want any trouble. He's different without his brother around. Merle was sentenced two years ago. Ever since then Daryl seemed so much more relaxed. Overall, he's a really private person. Doesn't like personal questions." Glenn stopped to twirl some noodles around, his brain trying to think up something else. "Sorry I can't be more helpful in this department."

Beth took in the new information, some of it she already knew, but some of it was interesting. "You were plenty helpful, Glenn."

Across from her, Maggie shifted her position in her chair. "The more I hear about Daryl Dixon, the more I feel like I need to get into protective sister mode," Maggie stated, digging around in the carton of brown rice, putting some on her plate. "When do I get to meet him again?"

"You will. Eventually…I hope."

"Beth," Maggie warned.

"Maggie," she complained. "He's an adult. What do you want me to do? I can't force him to meet you. When he wants to, he will. It's very simple."

"She's right," Glenn chipped in, acquiring a glare from Maggie. "What? I'm just saying."

"You trust me, don't you, Mag?"

She huffed. "Of course I do."

—

Daryl never minded being alone—he had been alone for most of his life. Even when someone like his brother was around, Daryl was still alone. He had adapted to it, really.

Always alone.

But honestly? Daryl didn't mind having this dog with him. At first it was weird to have this animal running around his house, but a week later and Daryl was used to it.

He liked the company.

(He wasn't alone all the time)

Daryl would not say that out loud but it was the cold, hard truth.

And like Beth had said when she convinced him to take the German Shepard, he was a well behaved dog. Not one piece of furniture was chewed on, no accidents inside the cabin, and no loud barking or howling that would annoy Daryl. No, this dog was good. Again, Daryl didn't mind him.

The house seemed less empty with his dog in it. That was right, he would acknowledge that this dog was _his_ dog.

And now?

Well, he sat down on the floor with his back up against an old couch with a lot on his mind (about Beth) and eyed the metal crossbow that was in the corner, the crossbow that had been severely neglected for weeks now.

He knew something was changing inside of him when he sat in the silence with the woods around him, the open windows showing the green of the surrounding trees against the wood of the cabin. Daryl recognized it as the first time where he felt like he didn't feel like being alone, like he actually wanted another person there with him.

It was strange for him, very unusual. Normally, he would prefer to be alone, crave the solitude. But the thing about being around Beth more and more was that it made him want some kind of human connection.

Beth did that. Only Beth could.

He didn't know how but she worked miracles—Daryl was a changing man.

Even if it was a change in the smallest direction, the faintest nudge from the place he had been in for years, it was still a change and it still counted for something.

Daryl got this sensation like he was going through withdrawal without having seen Beth in over a week. It was so childish, but it was entirely true. That was what it felt like, not that actually he knew what withdrawal physically felt like because he was never one to stick a needle in his arm like his brother or snort some unknown drug up his nose, but that was beside the point. He figured what he was feeling was symptoms of withdrawal.

Fucking withdrawal, as if Beth was some sort of new addiction that he picked up couldn't kick to the curb in a timely fashion.

Ridiculous.

And it was not like he was obsessed with her or anything, though if someone looked into his mind they might think otherwise because she was constantly bouncing around inside his head with no escape. But it was not that, not obsession, he would swear to it. What it was, to his understanding, was that Beth was this glowing angel-like girl who would force him to come out of his shell and strip down some of the walls he had built up, ones that he did not let down for anybody. He liked that about her, liked that she allowed him to show her who he was in bits and pieces that were jumbled together.

Beth was different, he told himself that repeatedly.

She was the light at the end of the very dark and gloomy tunnel.

And something told him that sitting around in the house all day would drive him crazy and that he should go out into the woods, retreat into his comfortable habitat where he could focus on hunting. Jack was looking over at Daryl, waiting for him as if he had expected words to be said. Daryl got up with a low grunt and snatched up the crossbow. "Come on, boy. Let's see how you do out in the woods."


	12. Chapter 12

Friday was the day that Beth looked forward to most. Her classes were intense, manageable, but demanding. The entire week she spent studying and preparing for exams with two doctor visits because the headaches she had been told about returned with a vengeance due to the stress. However, on Fridays she was done with classes at four o'clock so she would make an effort to make consistent regular trips over to the mechanic shop Daryl worked at just so she could stop in and say hello.

(And also probably overstay her welcome, but she paid no attention to that)

This particular Friday was the start of the first weekend in October, and Beth just needed to relax and decompress from the stressful week of first exams (Anatomy and Physiology had been a mind warp on its own and how she survived it was a mystery).

Beth had planned to go see Daryl now that she had not much new material to study for with her classes. She had even penciled in his name into her calendar, anticipating the arrival of the weekend as she crossed off the days as they went by painfully slow. The universe had worked against her in that way, making her wait for what seemed like close to an eternity until she was able to get into her car and drive the thirty minutes out of the suburbs of Atlanta and into the more rural part of the state where Daryl worked.

On her way there she remembered how Maggie jokingly said to her over the phone that Beth was headed to go see _her boys_ today—her boys referring to both Daryl and Jack. It was silly, of course. But in all actuality, that was what it felt like she was doing.

Beth was going to go visit her boys that day.

Now she knew that neither of them _belonged_ to her, but still, in a way they kind of _did_. There was a special and secluded place in her heart where the two had settled in, not leaving any time soon.

She stopped in at a nearby restaurant after phoning in an order on her way over. She picked up a large brown bag with handles that had the contents of what would be a late lunch. She wasn't sure exactly what Daryl would want, not sure about what his eating habits were, so she had gone with a safe choice and had ordered him a chicken wrap with hot sauce on the side and she got herself a caesar salad.

When she pulled into the dirt parking lot of the shop, Beth hopped out quickly before she shut her door and locked up the car, traveling fast across the parking lot to get to the door. Martinez had told her three weeks ago that she could come by anytime she wanted to so Beth was able to walk right in without feeling like she was intruding. Martinez had pulled her aside and also told her to come by more often because Daryl needed to learn some _people skills_ and she seemed to make Daryl _less annoying and less sullen_ somehow, which made Beth laugh.

It also made her realize that she was somehow making an impact on Daryl, which she never would have expected.

Beth entered through the doorway with the food in her hand, smiling as usual. Daryl had told her that he often brought Jack with him to work so he wouldn't be alone in the house all by himself all day long, so she was delighted to observe him in the corner curled up on a towel.

Jack woofed and ran to her once he noticed Beth in the doorway, his paws hitting the floor fast as he darted across to her, covering her with licks to the face when she crouched down to greet him.

"Stop," she laughed, pushing Jack away so he wouldn't get slobber all over her.

Daryl came around from the corner, a flicker of nervousness played out in his stature, which Beth caught and tried not to smile about.

"I hope you're hungry," Beth commented as she stood up, holding up the bag for Daryl to come get because his dog had trapped her in the doorway, rolling over on his side for her to pet him.

"Starved," remarked Daryl, taking the bag from her.

Once Jack had calmed down, Beth sat down on the floor with her legs crossed so Daryl could hand her the salad she had gotten. They ate on the floor together as Beth told Daryl about her uninteresting day and Daryl told Beth about how an angry customer had come in that day after he had backed into a parked car. Apparently it had been a real show to see the agitated man curse up a storm while on the phone with his wife.

They continued to eat on the floor together after they caught up on some things. Beth found it to be very entertaining so see that Daryl was not lying when he said that he was starving because he practically inhaled the food she brought him.

With food still in his mouth, Daryl showed his gratitude for the meal by saying, "Thanks."

Beth threw a balled up clean napkin at him. "Stop that," she cringed. "No talkin' with food in your mouth. You'll choke. And I am not in the mood to have to perform the Heimlich maneuver."

He took another bite, just to annoy her. "Well you do want to be a nurse. It might be good practice."

"Ha ha. Very funny. Just eat your sandwich."

She was reduced into a fit of laughter when Jack came over at one point and sneakily snatched a piece of sandwich right out of Daryl's hand when he wasn't paying attention. She came to the obvious conclusion that he must be feeding him people food because Jack would have never done that with Beth. And Daryl watched as she laughed uncontrollably, enjoying that after a week of intense classes and papers and everything else, something so simple made her laugh. He watched and smiled at her after a few beats as she rolled onto her side because her stomach started to hurt from the constant laughter.

She stayed for a while after that and let Daryl finish up a few things around the place and write some of the paperwork. Beth was just not ready to leave yet so she was content to sit and wait for him to be done with his work.

She was looking outside as the last bit of light from the sun disappeared when the memory struck her. "There's this meteor shower tonight. A girl who sits next to me in my Algebra class told me about it," Beth shared with Daryl. "It's supposed to be a really great view because there are no clouds tonight. Problem is that any nearby lights can interfere with being able to see them." Beth thought back and then added, "I don't think I've ever even seen a meteor shower before. Me and Maggie have always talked about it but we never follow through with a plan."

Daryl slightly narrowed his eyes at Beth in a curious, questioning way. He looked around the shop until his eyes settled back on her. "You wanna get out of here?"

Beth perked herself up. "Definitely."

—

Beth never questioned where Daryl was going as he drove them somewhere in his truck as night fell. There was no questioning as he drove down one of those rarely traveled roads out in the rural area, that was until Daryl swerved off the side of the dirt road they had been on and drove into a field that had some overgrown grass throughout it. Beth immediately grabbed the handle that was attached to the side of the truck for support as the truck shifted her around as Daryl drove through the grass.

Her eyes were wide the entire time until the truck came to a halt and Daryl put it in park. "Come on," said Daryl, opening up the driver's side door.

He clunked his boots down onto the soft ground, closing the squeaky door behind him once Jack hopped down out of the truck, leaving Beth there still wide-eyed and confused for a moment. She paused, trying to figure out what the hell they were doing in the middle of a field in the middle of nowhere.

Beth stuck her head out the window that was rolled down, watching Daryl come around to her side. "What are ya still doin' in there?" he asked.

Beth frowned. "You're not gonna kill me and bury my body out here are you?" she joked, but kept her voice serious. "Is that the reason we are here?"

"Maggie make you watch more horror films lately?" he questioned, sensing what the answer would be.

She let out a sigh as Daryl opened the door to the passenger side, motioning with his hand for her to step out, which she did after undoing her seat belt. She flashed back to the killer-in-the-woods-who-will-jump-out-and-terrify-you movie Maggie made her watch a week ago when she stayed over on the weekend. Beth really needed to stop watching those movies. They got into her head.

"Yes," she grumbled, zipping up her jacket because the night was faintly chilly. "Remind me to never allow her to guilt trip me into watchin' another." Beth turned her head and looked around the vacant field. "Do you come out here often?"

"Occasionally. Helps me clear my head." Daryl motioned around the field with his hand, turning to examine it before he turned back to meet Beth's eyes. "Nothin' out here. It's quieter than anywhere else I know other than the woods."

"It is nice out here," she agreed, breathing in the clean, crisp air around her. "But why are we here exactly?"

She had an idea of why, but wanted confirmation. Daryl smirked and shook his head. "You said you wanted to see a meteor shower. This is the best spot for it, y'know? No lights, no sound. Unless you don't want to be here…"

"I do want to be," she urged before he had the option of doubting himself.

Beth got the butterflies in her stomach again. Daryl had driven her all the way out here because of a comment she had made about wanting to see the meteor shower. He probably thought not much of it, but to Beth that meant a lot. He made an effort to go out of his way to make her happy. That was a telltale sign that there was something between them and that she hadn't been imagining it this whole time. She was sure of that more than ever.

Beth followed Daryl to the rear of the truck and concealed her grin. Daryl unlocked the back and Beth grabbed ahold of his hand as she stepped up and into the back of the open truck, careful to hold her balance. Jack hopped into the back as well, tail wagging because he was happy to be out in the cool air.

Beth looked around as she stood in the back part, seeing the outer perimeter of the dark green trees on either side of them, the dirt road far off in the distance. They were the only ones around for what was probably miles, which was just the way she liked it.

They sat up against the side, heads tilted skyward, legs stretched out in front, with Jack snuggled up on the other side of Beth, getting gentle pets from her. Beth took a brave chance and leaned in to rest her head onto Daryl's shoulder. She felt him tense up but she did not move away and neither did he so she stayed put. Slowly, Daryl relaxed his muscles until they were back to normal. She was sure that he was aware of how Beth had noticed the initial reaction, but she made sure that Daryl remained comfortable even when she looped her small arm around his muscular one.

Suddenly, a bright light went across the sky, eliciting a small higher-pitched noise from Beth to indicate that she had seen the meteor trail across the sky and disappear.

"Looks like your classmate was right," Daryl remarked, having seen the meteor too.

"You thought she might have been lying?"

"No. Just that maybe she got her facts wrong. Or maybe she was hungover and didn't know what she was sayin'. Wasn't there so I didn't know for sure."

Beth smiled to herself, analyzing his words. "So you drove out here even though you thought there was a chance that nothing would happen and we would just be out here sittin' around waitin' for nothing to happen?"

That told her a lot more than Daryl realized it showed her.

He was silent for a minute, and Beth would have loved to know what was going on inside that head of his. He was looking for some sort of excuse that he could patch together quickly. "You seemed interested in it so I thought it was worth a shot. Ain't like I got anythin' better to do anyways."

"No Friday night date with anyone?" she pursued.

If she were honest, it kind of felt like she was on some kind of informal date right then with Daryl, though she would never dare say that out loud to him. No need to scare him away or spook him with the ideas in her mind.

Daryl snorted at the question. "I don't date."

"Why not?"

"Because."

Beth pressed her lips together and blinked twice in a row. "Because why?"

"You ask a lot of questions, Beth."

"I know."

"Oh, you do?"

She smiled, spotting another meteor that lit up the dark sky. "_Now_ who's the one askin' questions, _Mr. Dixon_?"

She made sure to emphasize the name because she knew that he was not the fondest of it. However, it seemed to bother him less and less the more she used it, and it almost seemed as if Daryl had secretly taken a liking to the name.

However, this time Daryl sighed out of slight displeasure. "You do that on purpose, don't you?"

"Another question, my oh my," she teased. It was normal for them to do this. They would go back and forth until one of them gave up. "But for the record, I like callin' you Mr. Dixon. It sounds nice. Very mysterious."

"Mysterious?" Daryl muttered through a half-laugh. "You feelin' alright over there, Greene?"

"I'm feeling great."

More silence followed for a while until out of the blue, Daryl lowly laughed into the night.

"What?" she asked, curious as to where the humor had gone from.

He kept his head tilted upward, not looking her way. "How'd we end up here?"

"You're my friend," Beth explained, her voice quiet against the silence of the night. "This is what friends do. They hang out on Friday nights and do nothing productive."

There was a moment that passed by where Beth stared too long at Daryl when he finally glimpsed over at her. She had not thought of all of this, the being in the truck at night watching the stars as being fairly romantic in its own way until that second. Daryl's eyes had drifted from her own to further down on her face, more towards her lips, but he had caught himself and his eyes shot back up to meet her blue ones. She saw the brief flash of indecisiveness in Daryl's eyes before he glanced away and chose to look at the field instead of her, his hands settling in his lap where he could mess with his knuckles.

She held her gaze.

Beth stared at Daryl with a new admiration. He was nervous and unsure of himself even though he had no solid reason to be. He had done all of this for _her_ and she was grateful for it. Beth got the strong sense that this was not something that Daryl did on a regular basis—go out of his way like he had.

Daryl tilted his head back into Beth's direction when she never averted her stare before he looked away again. "What?"

The self-consciousness came out when he said it, that part of him that existed, the unnecessary part of him. She wanted to say there was no reason for him to feel that way, nothing was wrong with him. She was only staring because, well, she liked to. He was nice to look at.

"Nothin'. I'm just glad to be here."

Beth turned her head away, sighing lightly as she resumed her position on his shoulder to get more comfortable. She had no idea what was going on between them, and she doubted Daryl knew what it was either.

But that was okay. They could figure it out.

They could figure it out together.

And suddenly all she could hear was her own heart beating inside of her chest, rapidly picking up the pace. She wanted to kiss Daryl more than ever, to feel what it would be like, yet that was the first time she really recognized that there was the strong desire to do so.

But it was too soon for that.

He wasn't ready.

At least that was what she had gathered from their interactions. So she held back and enjoyed the night instead, putting the romantic stuff in the back of her mind, planning to return to it one day when she could sense that Daryl was ready for that step.


	13. Chapter 13

His brother was out of jail.

Fucking Merle and all his bullshit.

Daryl had been increasingly dreading this day for a month now. But if he were honest, he would say that he had been dreading it all along, ever since the day Merle got locked up there had been a countdown in the back of Daryl's mind of when he would have to put up with his brother again.

It had been nice without him. There it was, the cold, hard truth. He guessed that was a sad thing to think but it didn't bother him much. Merle and Daryl had been drifting apart for a long time, even before he was in jail. They were different now, especially because Daryl had settled down to some extent and had no need to follow Merle's lead.

He had done a lot of stuff his brother had told him to do in the past.

(Illegal stuff)

But not anymore. Daryl was done with that shit. He had to be. He wasn't this twenty year old who was searching for someone to look up to anymore. He had never had a good father figure growing up. Merle had sort of stepped into that position later on. But like he said, there was never a _good_ father figure, or any type of figure in Daryl's life.

He could only really depend on himself.

The drive to the jail where Merle was being released from was not a drive he wanted to make. A part of Daryl wondered that if he never showed up maybe Merle would just hate him and leave him be. But that wouldn't happen. One way or another Merle would find Daryl. He always knew how, knew how to step into Daryl's life whenever it was at Merle's convenience to.

Daryl could only imagine what would be said when Merle found out about Beth. He gripped the steering wheel a little harder at that thought, knuckles going bone white. He wished that he could keep his brother from Beth, or keep the knowledge of her a secret. Merle had a tendency to ruin almost everything and he didn't want his…friendship…with Beth to be tainted.

Friendship?

He had no fucking clue exactly what it was he had with Beth, but he still didn't want it to be ruined. Before he got another second to think of a way to keep his brother away from her, he pulled up to the prison and the guards let him pass through the outer gate.

He hated being at this place. Really fucking hated it.

When he finally put the truck in park, he deeply sighed when he saw his brother walk towards him and pass through another gate in front. It had been a long time since Daryl had visited, five months to be exact.

Daryl stepped down out of the truck and took the heavy steps toward Merle. It should have felt good to see him but there was this nauseating feeling that sat in the pit of his stomach from the sight. All things went to hell from here. He was almost sure of it.

Merle threw a twisted face at him when Daryl stood there in silence, unsure of what to do. Merle threw his hands up into the air. "What? No hug for yer older brother?"

There wasn't one moment in time the Dixon brothers had ever hugged. Merle was just saying that to be a dick about the icy greeting Daryl gave.

"Fuck off."

Merle snickered, grabbing his duffle bag. "Be doin' plenty of that later. Crystal says she's been missin' me."

Crystal. That was Merle's fuck buddy who just so happened to be a stripper in downtown Atlanta and who would often supply Merle with drugs, the same drugs that got him locked up in the first place. Not even ten minutes out of jail and Merle was already looking to get himself in trouble again. Daryl was not shocked by that one bit.

"I'm surprised you remember her name," Daryl grumbled.

"'Course I remember. Hard not to when she kept beggin' me to say it over and over and over again."

Too much information. Daryl didn't need to know that last part.

"Just get in the truck."

"Don't gotta tell me twice." Merle turned around to flip off the security guards that were posted on the inside of the gates. "And a special fuck you to y'all! It's been nice knowin' ya."

Merle hadn't changed at all.

Again, no surprise there.

There was a lot of silence in the car, with Merle occasionally telling Daryl about some kind of shit that went down inside the prison. Daryl only half listened and gave half mumbled replies. They drove to a place where Merle said he was going to be staying at, luckily never asking to say at Daryl's. The place he was told to drive to was in a shady part of town, one were prostitutes were on the corners and in the back alleys _working_ and where drug dealers found new, young teenagers to try some of their newest drugs, promising that it was not addictive and it was just a one-time thing.

It was all bullshit.

Daryl was uncomfortable when he pulled up to a rundown motel Merle had directed him to. There was a woman right outside smoking a cigarette, clearly a hooker wearing too much makeup with a top too tight around her fake breasts and shorts that exposed too much leg for him to look directly at her, fearing that she might think he was a _customer_. Merle had noticed, of course. And him being the good brother that he was, always liked to rub it in when Daryl was uncomfortable.

"Why don't you come on down with me and give the girls a visit," Merle smirked through his slow words, referring the strip club Merle was probably headed to. "I told 'em all about you. They'd really like to meet ya in person. In the _flesh_."

Daryl had never been to any strip clubs with Merle, had never been to one ever. He understood that as a male he should not have a problem with the idea of a half-naked woman dancing on top of him, but he actually did. Daryl had these intimacy issues that never had been worked through. And that was a whole other story that stemmed out of his fucked up childhood where no one cared about him.

Intimacy issues. Trust issues.

Isn't he just a ball of fun?

"No, thanks."

"You sure? Pussy is real good."

Daryl forced himself not to turn up his nose and look disgusted. "I'd rather not."

Merle laughed at him. He always laughed at him. "Suit yourself, little brother. More for me. But don't ever say I never offered."

Merle then got out of the car nonchalantly, like he had not just been driven from the prison yard. It was like things were back to normal for him and this had been the daily routine for the two of them. Daryl never knew how Merle could reenter the world in the way he did after being locked up, like he didn't have a care about it.

Daryl didn't stay to see where Merle walked off to and he didn't stay to see the answer. He put the truck in drive and speed off, getting the hell out of that part of town. Merle was out of sight and Daryl felt like he could breathe again.

—

He felt the floor vibrating underneath is feet before he heard the steady and obnoxious sound of the beat (he wouldn't go as far to call it music, but technically that was what it was). Daryl had to restrain himself from clenching his hands into fists. People acted like they owned the damn world and no one else in it mattered other than themselves. It was not like it was nine o'clock at night or anything. No. It was perfectly normal to have music pulsating through the walls. The neighbors wouldn't mind.

Oh, wait. That was right, it _was_ late and no one wanted to hear that that shitty sound. However, Daryl was too annoyed already with his brother to add on the idiot playing the music so loud to the ever growing list of why he felt like he wanted to punch a wall.

He was not entirely sure of how he ended up here. Maybe part of his subconscious got him here without him knowing what was going on or what streets he had turned down to get to this place that he had never been before. He should have known that he would end up here, walking towards where he was. He should have known that out of all the places for him to go that this one specifically was the only place he would ever need to be.

He knocked on the door rapidly without much thought to his actions. Daryl waited a few seconds until it hit him what he was actually doing. His brain scrambled to find a way out of it all, and he was about to leave, already in step to turn his back, when the door opened.

Beth.

She was there.

"Daryl," she sweetly smiled at him.

Her hair was collected up in a messy bun on top of head, her light makeup gone from her freshly washed face, her sweater falling off her shoulder and exposing her bare skin. He shouldn't have stared but he did. She was beautiful and he knew it.

And he was absolutely screwed because he thought that.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

Daryl froze up because he had not thought of any reason or excuse to be there in her doorway that late at night. "I was, uh…in the neighborhood."

That was a lie and a fucking bad one. He had been on the opposite side of town dealing with his brother being back in his life again. Why he couldn't just say that to her?

"Oh, really? You were in the neighborhood?"

She knew he was lying by the tone of disbelief in her voice. She had to know. It made Daryl hesitate. "Yes."

Beth looked back into her dimly lit apartment then looked back over at Daryl, cocking her head to the side. "Do you want to come in?"

"Um…that's not…I can't stay."

He would have liked to stay but it was a bad idea. The idea of being alone in her apartment at this hour put bad, impure, dirty thoughts into his head that he would rather not be there (until he was alone).

Beth rested her cheek onto the frame of the door, examining Daryl with a quick glance that went from head to toe. He must look like a mess but she was probably used to that by now. Daryl was never put together well.

"So you came all the way over here but you don't want to come in?"

He lingered, not saying anything. He briefly forgot how to form words into sentences because too much had gone on in one day and Daryl's thoughts were all over the place, causing him to be incapable when it came to decision making and correct language use that aligned with the scattered ideas in his head.

Beth sensed something was wrong with him. "Are you okay?"

"Fine."

Another lie.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Beth narrowed her eyes. "Positive?"

_Fucking tell her the truth, you idiot. _

Daryl decided to stop pretending. There was no point to it. He was done with trying to fake being fine. "My brother's out of jail."

Her face changed. She knew that this was hard for him even though he had not disclosed a lot of the shit his brother put him through growing up and also when they were both grown adults. If he told her all of it, everything, she would think Daryl was a mental case for going along with half the shit he did only because he thought he had to please his brother.

Beth shifted her weight around on her feet and her voice was quiet and low, almost not audible when she breathed out, "Oh."

"Been drivin' around for a while. Didn't know where to go. Just ended up here." Suddenly he felt bad from dropping by like he had. He was probably interrupting her night. That was very Daryl-like of him, the getting in the way part. "Sorry. I shouldn't have come here. I don't know what I was thinkin'."

"No," Beth said, reaching out to hold up her hand to make him stop feeling bad for coming by unannounced. "It's okay. I'm glad you came here. You don't have to apologize." She placed her hand onto his arm and it soothed him more than he thought a simple touch would. "Don't feel bad."

He needed to bail out of there quickly before he poured out his heart and his whole life story. Beth made it all too easy to make him feel comfortable enough to do that. But like it had been recently, his brain and his heart wanted different things, so he ended up staying put.

"I've got to be interruptin' you so I should—"

"Daryl," she cut him off. "You're not interrupting. I was gonna study but the music down the hall is makin' my head hurt," she explained as rubbed at her temples, removing the hand from his arm. "The guy who lives there has had it so loud the past few nights that I haven't gotten much sleep. I guess it'll be another night with earplugs in."

The protective mode kicked back in. That neighbor down the hall just earned a target on his back.

"But your head is okay, right?"

"No headaches yet. But I've been on the brink of gettin' one ever since the floor has been vibrating." Beth leaned in to talk in a more hushed voice. "I don't know why he needs to have the music so loud. I asked him yesterday if he could turn it down and he said no and slammed his door at me. I don't think there's gonna be any reasoning with him."

Daryl's blood came to a boil. Whoever this punk was they were going to be in for a rude awakening.

"Are you sure you don't wanna come in?" Beth asked again, the sound of hopefulness in her voice. "Really, I'm not doing anything."

As much as it killed him to deny her wish, he had to. "I really got to get goin'. Jack is still at home alone."

It was an easy excuse to blame the dog as his reason for having to leave, one that Beth would understand and not have any suspicions about.

"Okay. Then, I'll see you soon."

"Yeah, sure."

Daryl was not very observant when it came to women but he did notice how Beth seemed like she did not want to close the door and separate the two of them. It felt better than it should have knowing that he was not the only one who would feel _off_ when the other was not there. Like there was some sort of force in the universe that wanted them to be together as long as they possibly could.

That was stupid. What a damn romance novel that sounded like.

He really needed to get his head together.

"G'night," expressed Daryl as he turned and started down the hall. He heard the faint whisper of Beth returning the phrase to him before he heard the click of the door shut behind him.

Once a minute or so had gone by and Daryl was sure that Beth would be otherwise occupied, he went down the hall knowing exactly what he needed to do. Beth was in no way hinting at this but Daryl was going to do it anyways. He got all the way to the end of the hall and banged on the door of the tenant whose music was vibrating the entire building. He would have left it alone if it had not been for Beth's comment about her being on the brink of a headache. It was bad enough that she had to suffer from the occasional pains in her head due to the accident, she didn't need some asshole pushing a headache onto her.

When the occupant didn't come fast enough, Daryl banged again more forcefully. He would break down the whole fucking door if he had to, but luckily for all parties involved, a young and lanky male with dark hair opened the door with a cigarette hanging out his mouth and some tattoos up the length of his arms. The expression that played out on his face was priceless when he saw Daryl standing there with a pissed off look on his own face.

"You're not the pizza dude," said the guy after he stared at Daryl for a few seconds.

He resisted the urge to laugh. "No shit," retorted Daryl.

"Um, so then can I help you?"

Daryl remained expressionless. "Yeah, you can. You can turn down the music or I can do it for you."

He didn't often threaten people, but if anytime was a good time, this would be one of them. Daryl knew that he could be intimidating so he used it to the full advantage, and as it turned out, it actually worked. The guy in from of him looked like he was about to shit his pants, eyes wide and the cigarette about to fall out from in between his lips and onto the floor.

"Oh, I, uh," he started to stutter.

Daryl didn't give him the time to finish. "Just turn it down or I'll be back."

And with that, he left. Walked right down the hall to the stairwell and left the building. It was not until he got home that he looked at his phone, seeing a text message from Beth that said that the neighbor shut off the music and that she was finally going to bed, unaware that Daryl had been the reason the asshole had shut off the obnoxiously loud sound.

He felt like he did something right, at least right by Beth. And that was all he wanted.

_**A/N: Sorry for the long wait for the next chapter everyone! My life got really busy and I had zero time to edit this chapter. Hopefully it was worth the wait. **_


	14. Chapter 14

Beth woke up Sunday morning under a mountain of blankets to her alarm clock going off loudly. She grumbled to herself as she pulled herself upright to shut off the alarm on her phone, only to see that a line of severe weather was coming into the Atlanta area. She threw her covers off of her and promptly went over to turn on the weather channel, which was showing a forecast of strong winds, hail, and potential flooding, especially for Atlanta.

Beth thought about getting in her car and driving home until tomorrow to get out of the suburbs before the storm hit, but her parents were out of town and Maggie had Glenn at the house so it would just be the two of them, and Beth didn't want to interrupt that.

(Or hear any of it)

The reason she wanted to leave was because she really hated storms ever since she was a small child and Maggie and her had gotten trapped outside during a bad storm that came through, producing hail and heavy rain. They had stayed in their treehouse that was in the back woods by their farm but Beth had been so scared that any time after that she avoided being alone during a thunderstorm. She knew that it was childish to be afraid of something so natural like a thunderstorm or any kind of more severe weather, but the fear was ingrained into her and the only thing that eased it was the presence of someone else so she felt more protected.

She was tempted to call Daryl in that instance but told herself that she shouldn't do that, even though she really wanted to. She was a big girl, she could handle it. So instead, Beth hunkered down for the afternoon and obsessively kept the news channel on all day to monitor storm. That was until her power abruptly went out at four in the afternoon even before nothing more than a drizzle of rain had started to fall from the sky. That was when she lost the willpower to not call Daryl.

Beth picked up her phone and dialed his familiar number, headed to her bedroom to retrieve her backpack because it had her keys and wallet in it, and she decided that she would rather be at her house on the farm with Maggie and Glenn who would be all over each other than in her apartment alone in the dark as the storm hit. She quickly threw a few items of clothing into her backpack and exited her bedroom.

Beth had almost forgotten that she had her phone attached to her ear as she grabbed her coat and headed for the door.

"Hello?" said the groggy voice.

"Sorry," Beth apologized hearing Daryl's voice. "Did I wake you?"

He sounded more alert when he spoke again. "No, no. You alright?"

"You will never stop asking me that will you?"

There was a low chuckle on the other end of the receiver, making Beth smile. "I guess not. It's a habit."

Beth swung her door open and then shut it again once she was in the hallway, not really able to see where her key would go in the doorknob to lock her apartment back up. Apparently her whole building had lost power. "Damn, I can barely see a thing," she muttered to herself, realizing she should have grabbed the flashlight that was in her nightstand.

Daryl heard her and asked, "Where are you?"

"Leaving my apartment," she explained as the lock on her door finally clicked. She headed for the stairwell that was a few doors down from her, and luckily the side being a section of windows so she could see easier as she stepped down the stairs towards the ground floor. "I lost power already because of the weather and storms freak me out because like I said before, I am a complete scaredy-cat and I don't want to be alone."

She had said the words so fast that she wasn't even sure how she managed to divulge such information about herself. Daryl would think she was such a wimp for not being able to handle a storm.

"It's really stupid," she tried to backtrack. "But I had a bad experience when I was little and it kind of scarred me for life. Just ignore me as I ramble on. Anyways, I'm on my over to the house to hopefully not interrupt Maggie and Glenn's end of the weekend."

"I don't think they would mind," said Daryl, trying to ease the feeling of guilt that Beth was getting about having to drop in on her sister and her boyfriend unexpectedly.

"Oh, I think they will," Beth regrettably acknowledged.

She could hear that there was hesitation from Daryl as Beth walked out onto the street with caution and quickly located her car so she could start jogging over to it and avoid the downpour that was about to happen at any moment. She was just about to her car, sliding her bag off of her shoulder, when Daryl casually added, "You should just come here. It's closer."

She just about dropped her phone onto the street as her footing came to a halt. "Really?"

He paused on the other end for a good several seconds. "Uh, yeah. Why not? It's better than drivin' back to your house. But you don't have to. I was only makin' a suggest—"

"I don't even know where you live," she pointed out as she got into her car and started her engine.

Only when she had the second to relax did she realize what was happening. Daryl Dixon was inviting her over. To his house. To a place where she had never been but desperately wanted to. At first she thought that maybe she had imagined the whole conversation occurring and that his words had been altered in her mind to fit what she wanted to hear.

But, no, she had indeed heard correctly. Beth bit down hard onto her lip and then pressed them together, the cherry lip balm that she had on smoothing out. "Are you gonna give me an address or do I have to find a psychic to tell me where you are?" she joked, hoping that Daryl's silence was not a bad sign.

To her surprise, she heard a muffled laugh. "Right. You got a pen?"

He gave her the address of the street and she plugged it into her GPS after she hung up and told Daryl she would be there soon, the map showing that it would take her a half hour to get to the destination and away from the suburban area. He had mentioned to her that he lived out in the woods at some point but he had never said where. And to be honest, Beth didn't even care where he was as long as she could get there.

—

Beth followed the directions that the GPS gave her until she turned onto a back road that was five miles long, nothing in sight but the trees that were on either side of the road as she drove down. The clouds had gotten increasingly darker in her rearview mirror as she had driven out towards the country side, the storm coming her way. Luckily, for the most part, she was able to beat the storm.

She turned down another separate dirt road that had the same tire marks indenting the dirt, presumably from Daryl's truck. She traveled on that narrow road for a minute or so until a light appeared into her sight, and then the trees cleared to present a small cabin with dim lighting outside.

Beth pulled in next to Daryl's truck and shut off the engine. She admired the dark wooden logs that were lined up that created the exterior, with an open porch in the front that had a stack of chopped wood stacked to the side and a chimney off the left. She thought that it looked very cozy and very different from her the house she grew up in.

When she stepped out onto the wet ground, one of the first things she noticed was how quiet it was out there, her guess being that was why Daryl chose to live there. It was dead silent other than the rumbles of thunder that came her way and the small trickling of the rain running off of the tree leaves that surrounded the area. The air was noticeably cooler, almost calmer than in the suburbs. There was a different feeling to the atmosphere there in the woods.

There was also a small stream that ran down along the side of the cabin, the water freely flowing against the small rocks that lined the bottom, fallen leaves collecting around the edges, and raindrops bouncing off the water. Beth took a moment and breathed in the air, letting the stormy autumn smell fill up her lungs as she closed her eyes, relaxed as the muscles unraveled and were no longer tense.

When she opened her eyes again, she blinked twice and glanced around one last time. She couldn't explain it, not really. But the cabin felt like it was very _Daryl_. He was meant to be out here, fit in here. The property was beautiful and tranquil and like something Beth had never seen before.

It was almost unreal that she was there—that she had been invited there.

She really hoped this was not a dream.

And that was when Beth realized that Daryl had invited her into another part of his life. Slow and gradual. That was how Daryl was opening up to her.

Her thoughts were then interrupted by the sound of the door opening, her eyes shifting in that direction to see Daryl walk out onto the porch, boots making a heavy noise as he took steps, choosing to lean his shoulder against a beam at the end by the three steps that connected the ground and the porch.

"Hi," she quietly greeted, feeling like she was seeing Daryl for the first time in forever as she stood as still as possible.

"Hey."

She could hear the slight unsteady tone in his voice, the way he sounded when he wasn't sure how to acct or what to do next. She had picked up on it in the last few weeks, recognizing the way his voice would change when he was nervous.

She understood. This was an awkward moment for him but not for her. It only meant that she had to do everything in her power to ease the tension.

Before she could say anything more, Jack squeezed out the door and bolted for Beth as she grabbed her bag out of the backseat and stepped closer to the cabin. She saw him coming for her and she braced herself for the impact his wet paws were going to have once he jumped up at her, tail wagging like crazy.

"Hey, there," she squeaked at him, patting the top of his head once he calmed down and Beth stopped giggling at the affection from the animal.

And then she stood there as the drizzle of rain began to pick up, the clouds much darker. Beth looked up to the sky and then over at Daryl, waiting for him to signal that it would be okay for her to move. "Are you gonna make me stand out here all night?" she teased, playfully hinting to Daryl that he should invite her in. "Gonna let the storm blow me away?"

The wind whipped her hair in the other direction to she promptly took the hair tie off her wrist and threw her hair into a messy bun on the top of her hair to keep it out of her face and out of the grasp of the wind and the rain. Daryl had watched her momentarily and then snapped out of the stare so he could nod his head towards the front door, holding back a smile. "Come on in."


	15. Chapter 15

The inside was much better than she expected it to be when her feet crossed over past the doorway. For some reason she thought that every male was like her brother, who would leave everything out and never clean up. But that was not the case with Daryl. The inside of the cabin was relatively clean, but not in a way that he had just cleaned up everything. There was no overpowering smell of chemicals, only fresh air from which she assumed was from windows being open earlier.

It was almost an entirely wood interior with a rustic feel to it. There was stone fireplace in the small living room to her left, a coffee table in front of a couch and a chair that looked rather cozy to her. Beth smiled to herself when she saw a pile of two blankets by the fireplace, marking where Jack would sleep throughout the day when Daryl was gone. The image of the two of them flashed through her mind and made her smile even wider. She was sure that Daryl had caught it too.

In back of the living room was the kitchen, which led right into each other. On the opposite side there was three doors, which Beth assumed led to two bedrooms and a bathroom. All in all, she liked it there immediately. There was a certain feeling of coziness that made Beth feel comfortable.

She took a few more steps and let her boots clank against the dark wooden floor. Beth dropped her backpack onto the ground with a thud and continued to look around the place, turning around on her heels to let her eyes dart around the new surroundings.

"How long have you lived here?"

Daryl looked around, unimpressed. "Two years, I guess. Somewhere around there."

"Only two?"

"I moved around a lot," he briefly explained, keeping it short and lacking any details.

Beth wasn't going to give up on it that easily. "How come?"

Daryl scratched at the scruff on his chin, then rubbed his hand against his jaw. "Merle didn't like to stay in one place for too long," he said. Daryl rolled his eyes. "I stopped always runnin' away once he was in jail. Figured it was…"

"An opportunity," she finished his sentence, looking over at Daryl. Daryl lifted the corner of his lips on one side and gave a small nod to indicate she was right. "You got to take a break and settle down a bit."

A small moment went by where neither of them spoke. It was because Beth could easily identify with what Daryl was trying to say, and Daryl noticed that she understood without him really having to get any of the words out. She could fill in the absent and unsaid words of his story about his life. She understood.

She cautiously ventured to ask, "How is your brother?"

"Haven't heard from him in a few days. That means he's probably fine. Not hearin' from him is actually a good thing. Means he ain't in any trouble and doesn't want anything."

She felt the need to ask, "So, are you plannin' on leavin' again anytime soon now that he is out of jail?"

She didn't look at him when she said it because she was positive that her voice had given it away that the thought of Daryl leaving was not one she was okay with or fond of. It actually hurt to contemplate the possibility.

"I ain't leavin'."

That put her more at ease.

"Good."

Beth made her way over to a window in the kitchen and glanced out to see a small lake that was far in the back that was still visible even though it was darker outside, the water swaying with the wind as rain battered against it. "I like it here," Beth felt the need to say, let him know that she was comfortable in her new environment. Jack pushed against her leg, getting fur all over her dark skinny jeans. She gave him another pet as she removed the shoes she had on and placed them down onto the floor out of the way.

Lightening lit up the sky followed by a rumble of thunder in the distance. "You shouldn't stand so close to the windows," instructed Daryl out of concern, moving closer in her direction. "Y'know, it's dangerous."

"A little danger never hurt anyone," Beth argued.

Daryl motioned for her. "Come on. Step away before I end up with a fried and crispy Beth Greene in my kitchen because she was struck by lightening."

She smiled to herself, though Daryl undoubtedly caught the reflection of it in the window as she turned her head to face him. "You're startin' to sound like Maggie."

"Pfft," he huffed.

"I'm serious. She's all protective of me."

"That's a good thing," Daryl sighed, slinging his coat onto the kitchen table that was made of wood and looked like it was rarely used for anything other than a coat rack. There was a low level of disappointment in his voice when he continued to talk again. "Hey, at least you got a sibling who looks out for you and wants the best for you. I never had that so my guess is that it's a nice thing to have when you got it for the taking."

Beth was taken off guard by the statement. It was obvious that Daryl still had these lingering bad feelings towards his brother, ones that had yet to dissipate away, and ones that would probably remain for all of his life. The sting of his childhood was close to his heart and so was the mistreatment by Merle.

Beth was about to say something else to him, let him know that she believed that everything happened for a reason, but the lights in the house went out and the place went black. The sudden darkness startled Beth and she moved forward to reach out for Daryl but she ended up knocking against a chair and she heard the sound of papers falling onto the wooden floor.

"Watch it, girl," said Daryl's voice.

"Sorry," she whispered back, getting to her knees to feel around for the papers she let drop onto the floor.

She heard his footsteps about the cabin. "That ain't what I meant. I meant watch that you don't hurt yourself."

"Oh." She had thought he meant to not bump into anything and clumsily break something that was around. But it was good to know that he was more concerned about her own safety. The loud noise of moving around in the kitchen area then caused Beth to ask, "Do you need help over there?"

"The lights usually ain't off that for that long," Daryl announced, his darker shadow letting her know he went into another room. "I don't remember where the candles are at. Help me look if you can."

It was hard to see her way around because she was not familiar with the layout of the cabin, unlike Daryl who glided across the floor, aware of where everything was. A few pending bruises from hitting furniture later and Beth was the first one to miraculously find some candles and Daryl tossed her the lighter he had in his back pocket. She quickly lit the candles and the room was then illuminated by the soft light.

"Finally," Beth sighed dramatically, turning to Daryl to smile at their small accomplishment for the evening as the storm continued outside. She would have said something more but she got distracted and noticed how handsome Daryl looked in the new lightening that the burning candle offered. It brought out his darker features, but also the lighter blue in his irises, making him look like he had a softer side to him, which Beth already knew.

Quickly, Beth realized that she was staring and she came up with the idea to say the first thing that came to mind, which was, "This is much better. I can actually see you now. And it's not so dark and creepy in here anymore."

"What? Afraid of the dark?" he joked.

"Yes," she admitted without hesitation, eyelashes fluttering as she leaned up against the kitchen countertop. "The absence of light is not my favorite thing in the world. But I guess there isn't anythin' to be afraid of when big, bad Daryl Dixon is within arm's length to keep me safe."

Oh, _God._

Had she just flirted unintentionally?

And not to mention what a bad attempt it had been in the first place…

Daryl was about to say reply but their eyes met again, their faces close, and neither of them said a single word. All that could be heard was the patter of the rain outside that was hitting the roof and the big leaves of the surrounding trees. It was dark, yes, but Beth could clearly notice how dilated Daryl's pupils were from the distance he was at. It was a sure sign that the attraction was mutual. Beth's heart fluttered inside its home inside of her chest, pounding again and again until Daryl dropped his gaze to the floor.

"I'm gonna go look for more candles," he murmured the excuse to leave the room again.

Beth watched him as he went in the dull light until Daryl was back into a room that she assumed was his bedroom. Only then did she suck in a deep breath and close her eyes momentarily. This was it. This was right. Whatever was between them was not one sided and Beth could finally let it sink in that Daryl fully wanted it too, in his own way, but was unsure of how to move forward, believing it to be shaky ground.

When he came back into the room, Beth noticed he had no candles in his hands and that they were nervously locked at his sides. She looked around one more time, feeling Daryl's eyes on her as her examination of the cabin persisted. It was the first time that she thought that this was a little bit romantic—the dark cabin with the candles. It wasn't forced or felt weird in any way, it felt normal.

Beth wanted a way to diffuse the nervousness that Daryl must have been feeling in that moment by the way he stood there in his place awkwardly, so she brushed past Daryl to go grab her bag that was on the floor. "I think I'm gonna study a little bit now that we have some light," she announced to Daryl, who had watched her movements until she sat down on the brown couch that was surprisingly a comfy spot.

"You do that," he replied, biting his nail before turning away and opening up a cabinet. "I'll see if there is anythin' edible to feed you."

"Okay. Thanks," she said back gratefully. "Thanks for everything, actually. For lettin' me come over here."

Daryl lifted a shoulder and then let it drop back to its regular position while he searched through his kitchen. "No big deal. You can come whenever you need to."

An open invitation.

All snuggled up on the couch, Beth couldn't shake the feeling that she felt at home. She was happy here and that made her smile to herself before she took out her chemistry textbook so she could turn to the fifth chapter and then got to work with a candle right by her so she could see.

—

She fell asleep inevitably. Daryl wasn't too surprised by that since it had looked like Beth had been trying to keep her eyes open for the past half hour after eating the horribly made sandwich he had tried to make her and make it good. He was sure the only reason she ate it was to be nice.

The storm outside was dying down and the winds were becoming steady again, the rain tampering off. The lights came back on but Daryl shut them back off again when he realized that her eyes were shut and her breathing was slower. There was no danger anymore, no threat of a storm that Beth was afraid of. Yet, she was asleep instead of on her way back to her place. But really, he kind of let her fall asleep. Beth was all curled up on the couch with a book falling out of her hands, her head tilted to the side so it rested against the dark cushion. Daryl had never seen someone sleep so peacefully before; the very thought of disturbing her would be unthinkable.

He didn't have the heart to wake her.

(And there was also this own self need to this that told him to let her sleep with him, sleep in the house with him that night so he could feel what it was like to have her there)

Instead of waking Beth, he decided to drape a blanket over her so she wouldn't get cold during the night and also took the book out of her hands before it fell to the floor and woke her. He would have insisted that she sleep in his room for the night and he would take the couch, but it looked like there were other plans at work. It was probably best anyways. Daryl knew that he would never be able to get her scent off of his sheets. And that would have been a problem when he would try and sleep at a later date, inhaling her scent from the pillows. Surely that was a recipe for disaster. He already had trouble keeping Beth out of his mind most days, he didn't need the extra layer of her familiar smell all around him.

Daryl should have just gone to bed, but _no_, he tortured himself by staying in his place by the edge of the couch for a minute longer and watched Beth sleep, watched her breathe in and out. It kind of amazed him how she ended up there with him, how the two of them ended up where they were. Which was…

Oh, right. He still didn't know the answer to that.

Daryl turned around, ripping his eyes away, and signaled Jack to get to bed. However, the mutt had other ideas. Jack got up from his place and went over to the couch where Beth was at, taking up the spot right below on the floor. It was like he was protecting her, just like Daryl felt like he wanted to do.

This dog and him apparently had more in common that he initially thought. What a shock.

Daryl stood and looked on for another few seconds until he escaped away to his bedroom. But there was one thing left on his mind—of course it surrounded Beth. But what was going around in his head was the thought that Beth was the first girl, no, first _woman _to ever be at his house, let alone be sleeping there.

Daryl always thought that if a woman were to end up there then it would have been because he was drunk and well past any good judgment or decision making, bringing a woman back purely out of sexual need. It would have been a complete mistake that he would have regretted come the morning. But this was entirely different. There was nothing sexual about Beth sleeping at his place, no sexual undertones whatsoever. She was there out of choice, out of both of their choices, and she was there with him because Daryl liked her company.

And maybe he liked it a little bit too much, but the jury was still out on that one.

Daryl contemplated taking a shower but decided against it and opted to get pull the sheets off his bed and get in for some much needed rest. He would sleep easy knowing that the sweet blonde was right in the other room along with her trusted companion by her side.


End file.
